Skinny Double Dirty Chai
by msjgatsby
Summary: Paige is not picky with her alcohol, but when it comes to her coffee order, she drinks strictly Skinny Double Dirty Chai. It's a complicated order to get right, but much less dangerous than coffee with cream. (A companion piece to be read with Coffee with Cream)
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Notes:** This is a companion piece I wrote to my other story Coffee With Cream which is finished and can also be found on this site.

This is the same story time line, retelling the whole story from Paige's POV. It is not all the same scenes, but provides some nice background information. It can be read as a stand alone piece as well.

I really like character pieces where you get to see both sides of view from a limited narrator because in real life the character's don't have access to all the information. Especially with Mike and Paige in my story, because they're both so bad at expressing their feelings.

I borrow heavily from the show and try to stay in Canon as possible.

**Rating: **This story is rated M for sexual themes.

**Disclaimer:** Look I really don't believe that this disclaimer is going to protect me at all should Jeff Eastin decide to sue me. However, Jeff's attorneys should please note that suing me would be a huge waste of time, for the following reasons:

- First: I have no money and am certainly not making money off of this. First rule of law school; go after the deep pockets.

- Second: I clearly have a ton of time on my hands. So I have nothing better to do than debate the four prongs of The Fair Use Act 17 U.S.C. § 107, file extensions and counter suits. It would be a lot of work for no reward.

- Third: Just trust me on this one- I'm cute. We're talking button levels of cute here. No judge or jury would ever be able to resist my puppy dog eyes.

**Thanks:** Thanks to everyone who read Coffee with Cream and especially those who reviewed.

* * *

**Skinny Double Dirty Chai**

Chapter 1

Paige is lying on a bed in the same sleazy motel room that she's been holed up in for weeks.

She can't believe she's doing this.

More so, she can't believe she's actually enjoying it. One thing is for sure, her roommates can NEVER find out or else she will never live it down.

A knock on the door makes her jump a foot in the air. Grabbing her gun from the nightstand, she arms herself and walks slowly towards the door. The lamps in the small room are already out, and the only light comes from the flickering of the TV screen. Paige looks out the peephole cautiously. When she sees who's on the other side, relief floods her and she opens the door quickly, forgetting to hide the evidence.

"Hey Girl! I brought you supplies." Charlie tosses a bag at Paige's chest and walks quickly into the room, glancing over her shoulder out of habit.

"Awesome! Thank you." Paige anxiously rips open the bag to see which personal affects Charlie could smuggle her. She feels like a kid at Christmas. She squeals with joy when she discovers a pack of her favorite organic protein bars. She missed these. The persona she has assumed for this case would not have even heard about these. "Mmmm… you're the best."

"There's some coffee in there too. Do you even have a coffee maker in this dump?" Charlie looks around the dingy Spartan room critically. Paige appreciates the gesture. She decides not to tell Charlie that it doesn't matter, because she doesn't drink coffee, with the exception of shots of espresso in her chai tea.

"Jesus. Can you just crack this guy so you can come home already? You're missing out on so much." Charlie gives up on inspecting the cramped room and sits down on the bed beside Paige.

"I wish. He's giving me nothing. Any update on Donny?" Paige asks. She hates this case. She wants to go home.

"They've got him in a safe house somewhere. That's all we know right now. Lauren's not handling it well. I think she may… hey, what is this that we're watching? Is that? No… Oh my God, Paige!"

"Oh no. No! Look away Charlie! Look away!"

Paige screeched in embarrassment, scrambling over the bed looking for the remote control for the TV. Unable to find it, she runs back over the bed, tripping over the bed spread as she goes, and rips the cord from the wall.

"Oh my God! I can't believe you caved!" Charlie dissolves into giggles falling back onto the bed.

"I'm bored! This case is horrible! Don't judge me!"

"Paige really? You're watching The Town?!" Paige groans at how disappointed in her Charlie sounds. She steels herself for a lecture. "Jakes has been trying to get you to watch this movie for a year! You swore to Jakes you never would! I believe the exact phrasing was 'For the thousandth time no, I would rather have dishes every sauce night from here to eternity, if it meant I didn't have to watch that piece of crap.'"

"Charlie you can't tell him! Listen to me, no telling anyone! It's not like I was actually watching it anyways, I was flicking through channels and didn't realize what it was until just now." Paige lies. She realizes it's weak. One would think all this time undercover would make her a better liar than that.

"Oh yeah right. So you're telling me if I were to pull your bill at the front desk they wouldn't have this ordered on it? Isn't the DEA putting you up here for your cover? I could get access to those records you know."

"I swear Charlie, if you tell Jakes, I will tell Briggs about that sex dream you had-"

"Fine by me. I already told him about that. We had a good laugh."

"Not that one. The OTHER one." Paige grins.

"You swore you'd never tell!" Charlie's eyes widen. They were at a standoff.

"Ok, so, here's what we're going to do. You came over, and the tv in my room is clearly broken, so I was sitting around doing nothing." Paige says, laying down a new cover story for the night.

"Fine! Weave your web of lies you trickster." Charlie laughs giving up. "Seriously though, how you doing girl? You ok with this case? Do you need out?"

"You know me." Paige grins wryly. "Tough as nails here. I'll get him to talk."

"Ok, I'll give you a week, but if you need help with anything, you call me ok?"

"I need to get laid." Paige laughs wryly. "You want to help me with that?"

"Sure, stop giving Bobby the pills. You'll get laid real fast." Charlie shrugs.

"Gross." Just the idea of it makes Paige want to hurl. She can still feel the way Bobby's fingers had inched greedily under her skirt in the crowded club earlier that night. She shudders in disgust at the memory.

"Actually… I might be able to help you with that." Paige can see Charlie was scheming. She was such a meddler. Paige regrets saying anything.

"Ok, first of all, I was kidding. Second, I'm flattered Charlie, but you'll have to at least buy me a drink first." Paige teases, leaning across the bed to bat her eyelashes in Charlie's direction.

"The new kid Mikey… He's cute." Charlie says, trying to sound innocently not interested in Paige's response.

"The Levi guy who stole Donny's room?" Paige asks doubtfully.

Paige tries to remember any details she'd heard about the new guy. There was so much going on back at the house and she is missing all of it!

She is so tired of being trapped on this assignment. Bobby was a jealous guy though, and wanted to keep tabs on her, so she had been living at this motel for weeks to keep suspicion from following her back to Graceland. She missed her bed. She missed her friends. She even missed the chore wheel. Well, maybe she wasn't quite to that level yet.

"Yeah. I think you two would be so cute together."

"Please Charlie. I'm not that desperate." Paige rolls her eyes, and gets up to start putting away some of the clothes Charlie had brought her.

"No, Paige I mean he's CUTE." Charlie accents the word. "Too clean cut for me, but you'd like him."

"I thought he was a total brain. Didn't he get like a sixteen-hundred on his practicals?"

"A seventeen-hundred actually. And so what? The two aren't mutually exclusive. Briggs got higher than that, and he's not exactly hard on the eyes."

"Yeah, but he's Briggs." Paige rolls her eyes.

Paul Briggs was obviously the exception, not the rule. Charlie's liberal use of the word 'cute' didn't help either. Charlie thought everyone was 'cute'. Charlie thought Meth Heads were 'cute'.

"The new guy kind of reminds me of Briggs. When he was younger."

"And this is a good thing? Come on, I thought you were trying to get me to date this guy." Paige laughs.

"I think he'd be good for you. You need a good guy Paige. You've been slumming it with these Bobby types too long." Charlie says firmly.

"Hey, I'm not sleeping with Bobby. I'm working. " Paige clarifies.

She always tends to get a little too defensive about these things. Mostly because when you were undercover, your lies were your life. As agents, sometime you had to do things you would never do in real life to protect your cover. You could tell yourself it was just the job, and try to keep things compartmentalized, but sometimes it was harder to do than others. Paige shudders again at the memory of Bobby's fingers probing her in the crowded dance club. She wonders how much longer she could keep this up.

"Yeah, but what you do is worse. You pick up these dumb guys at the bar, who don't deserve you, play their dream girl for a night and then never return their calls. You never let anyone close. You need to let someone take care of you for once."

"What do I need that for? I have you to take care of me!" Paige wraps Charlie in a silly hug, planting a sloppy kiss on her cheek. "Thank you for the goody bag, Charlie."

"Fine. Continue playing your games, but I'm onto you, missy. You may act all tough and flirty, but at the end of the day we all need someone. You should give Mikey a chance."

"Please, he sounds completely green. That kid couldn't handle me. I'd tear that poor boy apart." Paige grins.

"Whatever. Look all I'm saying is give him a chance. For me?"

"Oh, you know I'd do anything for you."

"And I'd do anything for you. Alright girl, I gotta run." Charlie sighed. "Seriously though. That Bobby starts giving you problems, you call me. You need anything. You call me. Anything at all."

* * *

A few nights later, Paige made that call.

"Hey, Charlie. You want to do me a HUGE favor and swing by the club tonight?" Paige puts on her best favor asking voice, and hopes her puppy dog eyes work over the phone.

"Are you saying you need my help?" Charlie asks.

"Um, yes-" It was a strange response, and Paige's first instinct is that Charlie might be in trouble.

"But you can't tell me what it is..." Charlie continues as if Paige hasn't said anything.

"No, I can tell you-" Paige begins to tell her all she needed was some birth control pills.

"...I can never ask you about it later..."

"Oh, I see what you're doing. Cute. Is Jakes standing next to you?" Paige realizes that Charlie is mocking her with a line from 'The Town' movie. She was never going to live this down.

"...and we're gonna hurt some people?" Paige can hear the barely contained laughter in Charlie's voice by this point, and she rolls her eyes.

"Is that Paige?! Did she watch it?" Paige can hear Jakes's excited squeal in the background. Jakes's never gets excited about anything. And he certainly does not squeal. She was going to kill Charlie.

"You told him! Didn't you? I'm going to kill you, Charlie. . . After you do me the incredibly sweet favor of coming out tonight and bringing me my stuff? Pretty please?"

"Which car we gonna take?" That was a yes to both questions. She can hear Jakes gloating in the background. She felt incredibly homesick all of a sudden. She needed to get back to Graceland.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Notes:** To answer the questions:

1) Yes, as my writing apparently shows, I kind of am obsessed with Paige as a character, and I admittedly like her more than Mike. They're very different people and have very different focuses and views, and that's why it's fun for me to write.

2) I think Paige and Charlie are two of the best written female characters in media right now, (I actually don't even hate on Abby, I just think that the writers are purposely not staging her to be a likable romantic lead).

3) Briggs and Charlie are just really good friends and essentially war buddies who have a long history together, and yes, are attracted to each other. But they are way too professional to ever let anything more happen between them…. Again.

**Thanks:** Thanks for reading and reviewing!

* * *

**Skinny Double Dirty Chai**

Chapter 2

Paige is on her third karaoke song of the evening. She is fully aware that she is hogging the stage, but no one has complained yet. She's pretty sure the applause is more in response to her low cut dress and tendency to bounce, rather than due to any semblance of singing skills, but she'll take it. Anything to keep her out of reach of Bobby Moy's wandering hands.

She is smiling and bouncing away, when she finally spots Charlie in the crowd. Thank God.

The man next to Charlie throws his arm around her, and Paige is surprised Charlie doesn't break it off. Usually Charlie has a no nonsense attitude with the pigs in this bar. However, Charlie not only allows it, but leans comfortably into his embrace.

Paige squints her eyes into the spotlight, and realizes the guy is not one of the bar's regulars. He definitely doesn't fit in. He's way too handsome and clean. Plus if that's not enough of a sign, he has a look of childlike wonderment etched all over his face. This must be the new guy. Of course. Charlie would not be able to wait for Paige to get back to the house to set her matchmaking scheme in motion. She was so obvious.

Paige finally ends her song with an exaggerated giggle, and basks in the half hearted applause that signals her humiliation can end. It's all she can do to keep from jumping off the stage and running over to Charlie, but she's got a job to do. So instead, she slowly and sensually walks over to where Bobby is seated.

"Hey babe. I'll be right back." She leans over so her breasts are eye level for Bobby. She knows this is her best chance of distracting him while she grabs his mostly full drink. He stops her by grabbing her wrist, and she turns to face him, worried he might not let her take it.

"Where are you going?" He's such a possessive asshole. He wants to know where she is at all times.

"Ladies room." She smiles brightly, trying not to let any of the hatred she feels show. "I'll be right back, babe."

Paige crosses the bar towards Charlie, relieved she got the drink. She grabs the drink she ordered before she went on stage, from the bar and combine the two in the glass. She doesn't acknowledge Charlie as she walks by, other than to say, "Bathroom."

Once they are out of the eyesight of Bobby and his thugs, Charlie immediately digs into her.

"That was beautiful, like really beautiful. You got a record deal yet?" Charlie teases.

"That was my encore. You missed the first half of the show. Where have you been?" Paige asks.

"Well I had to figure out what to wear, but I obviously overdressed. I didn't know tonight was lingerie night at the club." Charlie gestures to Paige's dress.

"Hey, I don't have access to my normal wardrobe. Maybe next time you should pack me something that covers my bra." Paige scolds playfully.

"Hell no, I want the full show. The costumes. The dancing. The singing… when are you going to start singing by the way? Because I don't think what you were doing before qualifies. I can't hear anymore."

Charlie rags on Paige as they entered the bathroom. The new guy trailed them silently, being drug along like a small child behind Charlie.

"Shut it. Ok?" Paige laughs.

Seeing Charlie was refreshing. If there was any possible way she could go home with Charlie tonight instead of Bobby, she would. Hell, she'd trade places with the new guy and let him fight off Bobby's advances, if she thought that would work. Unfortunately, it wasn't possible. She was in too deep.

The inside of the bathroom seems empty thankfully, with exception of a sex worker pulling a very guilty looking older man out of the bathroom.

Paige frowns as she remembers the times she's gone under as a prostitute. She isn't a very good hooker, she always busted the guy for drugs before any sex took place, but it still wasn't fun. Not that this case was much better.

Once Paige is sure they are alone in the bathroom she asks. "Did you get them?"

"Yeah." Charlie assures her, pulling a small package out of her purse and taking off her shoe.

"God, I'm gonna start buying these things in bulk." Paige sighs as she heads into a stall.

This dress is so tight that if Paige even takes a sip of water, her bladder threatens to break the zipper. She's aware that the new guy, she can't remember his name, is in the bathroom as well, but figures they're going to be housemates, he's going to hear her pee eventually. Paige has never been shy.

"So this is the infamous Levi!" She acknowledges him, keeping the conversation going.

"It's Mike." That's right. She knew it started with an 'M'.

"He's my boyfriend tonight. And he's cute right?" Charlie asks, sounding not at all subtle.

"Yeah, he's hot." Paige humors Charlie. Though she's not lying. Mike actually is more attractive than Paige expected. He'll fit in just fine at the Graceland house.

"It's nice to meet you Levi."

"Yeah, you too, it's Mike." He stutters. He's certainly a nervous little thing.

"You fresh out of Quantico?" Ah the joys of making small talk in a public restroom. Have to keep it going. If the conversation stops for a second there's nothing but the sound of trickling water.

"Yes ma'am." So, the kid is clearly not a talker.

"At ease soldier." Paige laughs.

He's so formal. He'll have to grow out of that quickly. She hopes she gets back to Graceland before he loses all his innocence and is as cynical as the rest of them. The good-natured hazing is one of her favorite parts.

"Still making no headway with Bobby?" Charlie asks, and Paige can hear her pounding up the pills into a powder on the other side of the door.

"Nothing. I'm looking for stuff on him, and all he want's to do is get under me." Paige groans as she remembers what's waiting for her outside of the bathroom.

"Wait, is that what the birth control is for?" Oh, the poor kid sounds horrified.

"I'm not taking them." Apparently Charlie has not filled Mike in on the details of their mission out here.

"Well your agency doesn't expect you to… um…" The poor boy is having trouble even forming the words.

He's judging her. She can hear it in his voice. He thinks she's a whore. Sure, it was easy for him to judge. The kid had only been undercover for two cases, and neither of them involved having to smile into the face of the enemy whose hand is up your skirt like you're his personal puppet. Like he owns you. Having to clench your teeth and fight every instinct to punch him, because you can't blow your cover, and have to stay close to him. Undercover work must seem like dress up to him.

Paige comes out from the other side of the door prepared to give him hell, but under further inspection of his wide eyes she calms herself. He clearly didn't mean any harm. He looked innocent in every sense of the word. He would learn soon enough that at Graceland, you don't ever judge a person for what they have to do undercover.

"I'm not going to screw him. The pills are for Bobby." She states firmly.

She's being way too harsh with him, but it's important to her that he understands this fact. It's also almost like Paige is reassuring herself. Mike holds her eye contact and gulps.

"Give a guy a couple of these and his soldier's at ease." Charlie explains.

Charlie always was more patient and a better teacher than Paige.

"Really?"

"Really."

"Thank God. I can't take this anymore." Paige groans in frustration.

The last time Bobby couldn't get it up, he got so angry she thought he might hit her. Paige knew at some point he'd get suspicious.

"Gross." Charlie agrees.

"Well can I ask you a question? I mean you're going under as his girlfriend. Don't you kinda expect him to want to uh..."

The kid seemed really confused by the basic concepts of going undercover. Paige had heard he was smart. She idly wondered what they were teaching them at Quantico, as she examined herself in the mirror, adjusting her dress.

She turns away from the mirror and he seems to find his words. "...well you know... want to get with you."

She almost laughed at the PG phrasing, but doesn't want to hurt the poor guys feelings. He was obviously nervous. He reminded Paige of a puppy dog learning to walk.

"Absolutely."

Paige knows what men want, they like money and power. Sex was just the physical embodiment of those two things.

"Why don't you get out?"

Mike has just asked the question that Paige had been asking herself for weeks.

She should get out. She doesn't know why she's still here actually. She's getting nothing from Bobby and probably never will. However for some reason, when Paige hears Mike voice the words she suddenly knows her answer.

"Because I want the bastard." She says resolutely.

She flashes him a grin, the first sincere smile she's given all night. She suddenly no longer feels trapped and weighed down in a situation she can't control. She's choosing to be here. She's going to put this scum of the earth behind bars. Paige feels her spirits and focus renew and suddenly she can't wait to get out of this bathroom, and get back to work.

"Ok Mama." Charlie says. "It's getting hot in here."

"Thanks Charlie!" Paige chirps. Armed with her erection killer, she is ready to conquer the world.

"It was nice to meet you Mike." She slaps his ass playfully. She wishes could stay to see the expression on his face, she bets it's priceless, but she has a very thirsty drug lord waiting and a karaoke song with her name on it.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Notes:** Sorry this one took so long to get out. I had a busy week.

I tend to write chapters out of order, so I would sit down to write this and end up writing Chapter 7 instead. Plus Graceland keeps giving me such good Paige scenes each week, her joking with Johnny last week, Mike and her double date this week. Loving it. I keep writing new Chapters based off those scenes.

If it seems like Paige doesn't really care about Mike... she doesn't. At least not yet. He's still kind of a stranger to her, and an awkward nervous one at that. In my head Mike kind of had a love at first sight reaction, but Paige really doesn't work like that. She has other things on her mind.

**Thanks:** Thanks for all the love! It really does make me write faster when I feel like people are reading it.

* * *

**Skinny Double Dirty Chai**

Chapter 3

"BAM!"

"What's going on?"

Paige looks at the scene in front of her. Her roommates were all strewn about the campfire, laying in various recumbent positions and Johnny is looking very disappointed that she did not react better to his odd greeting.

"You're a bear." Mike says in a soft gentle voice, as if that was supposed to clear things up.

"Mike just shot you." Charlie clarifies.

"Oh, ok."

Now that Paige knows the game, she is more than happy to play along. She is going to give a death scene worthy of an Oscar win.

"Take two?" Johnny suggests.

"Hold this." Paige hands Briggs her drink. There was no reason to sacrifice a perfectly good beer for her performance.

"BAM!"

On cue, Paige dramatically falls to the ground, splaying herself out over a rock. Thank you, middle school theater camp.

"Wow, that was good." Paige grins into her arm, taking back her beer from Briggs. Mike was so easy to impress.

"And that, my friends, is the legend of..." Johnny pauses for dramatic effect. "Merciless Mike and the bullet proof bears."

Johnny's announcement brings out applause from the gang. Paige isn't sure if she's clapping for Mike, or for Johnny's storytelling skills. She had been late to join, due to her taking a much needed shower, and had missed most of the story.

"Seriously, some of the best marksmanship I've ever seen in my entire life, Mike. Real talk. So I'm glad you're one of us." Briggs compliments Mike with admiration.

Praise like that from Briggs is rare, and Paige gives Mike an impressed glance. Apparently the kid could handle a piece. Which is good, because if what she had seen at the bar was any indication, he was no good at playing it cool and would definitely need it.

"Speaking of which, how did your little shrink session go?" Briggs wasn't asking Paige, but she still feels suddenly wary.

"...That's private..."

Today has been a bad day, but Paige knows that bad days happen. Complaining about it won't change anything. She just has to tough it out. She knows that the worst is almost over and trusts that Briggs is going to fix this. She doesn't know exactly what his plan is, but she's just glad to see a light at the end of the tunnel.

"...Normal shrink BS..."

Paige hasn't been to the shrinks office in a while. She avoids it whenever possible. She doesn't like talking about her feelings, and whenever she does talk, the shrinks accuses her of deflecting or using humor as a defense mechanism. Paige thinks the shrink just needs to get laid, so she would relax and leave her alone. Then maybe she would realize Paige does not have a psychological condition. Paige is simply hilarious.

"...They wanted to know if I felt guilty..."

Today, Bobby had caught her off guard in an empty hallway. He had barely lasted five minutes, but they were five minutes too long for Paige. Her knees are bruised from where he had shoved her roughly to the ground, and her throat is sore from where he had violated her mouth. He had roughly forced himself onto her, but she knew that if she finished him off quickly with her mouth she wouldn't have to fuck him. So she had become an active participant, because it was either blow him or her cover.

"...Whether I could operate my firearm..."

Paige has always been skilled with her mouth and hands, and thankfully she had managed to keep Bobby satisfied for now. The bastard didn't even care that when he finished she had thrown up almost instantly in the hallway.

"...So I take it you're all healed and what not..."

It wasn't the first time something like this had happened. It was an occupational hazard. Paige is less disturbed by the actual event than she is by how easy it is getting to put it into a box and forget about it.

Here by the fire, surrounded by her laughing housemates, she feels normal. Like today has just been a bad dream, fading from her memory.

She has decided not to tell anyone about today's events. It happened. It was horrible. It's time to move on. The only thing bitching about it would do, is have everyone else pity her, and earn her another trip to the psychiatrist.

"To our merry band of misfits!" Briggs's announcement brings Paige back to the present, and she clinks glasses with the others.

Everyone goes back to chatting merrily, and Paige sits pensively by the fire, her knees curled up to her chest. She isn't talking much tonight and isn't paying much attention to what anyone is actually saying. She's just enjoying the warmth of the fire and the company. She feels safe here.

"Hey, you ok?" Mike asks, bringing her out of her head, as he sits down next to her.

Apparently she doesn't look as peaceful as she thought.

Paige is surprised it is the new kid who notices something wrong with her, instead of one of her older roommates. Maybe she was damaged enough that it took fresh eyes to see a new ding.

"He talks." She grins, looking over at him with a bright smile.

Based on his behavior when she first met him at the club, Paige had assumed Mike was really shy. She's glad he's coming out of his shell.

"How you doing, Levi?" She asks, clinking her beer glass against his.

"It's Mike." He corrects her, "I'm doing ok. It all still seems a little unreal."

"Yeah, I heard they kind of sprung this all on you. Where were you supposed to be again?" Paige asks.

She really should have paid more attention when Charlie was briefing her on Mike. She knows very little about the guy.

"DC." He seems unperturbed that she remembers nothing about him.

That pale skin and love of the rules? She should have guessed he'd go to DC. He'd probably find some overeducated stepford wife and run for Congress some day.

"Ah. Makes sense." She grins to herself.

"What?"

"DC seems like a good fit for you." She says simply. He would fit in well in DC with the thousand other young, straightlaced, overachievers.

"What makes you say that?"

"Oh well, you just seem a little..." Paige struggles for a polite way to put it.

Not able to think of one, she comes right out with the blunt answer, "Uptight."

"I'm not uptight." He looks offended. He doesn't seem to realize the irony in that his defensive response is only proving her point.

"I'm sorry, weren't you the one who had to borrow that hoodie from Johnny?" Paige grins.

She is deeply amused that he did not think of himself as uptight. Did he think he was tan as well?

"What's your point?"

"My point is, you tried to wear an ironed oxford button up to a midnight beachside campfire." She teases, expecting another stuttering defense. The kid just takes everything so seriously.

"Oh, whatever," Mike laughs, "I must have forgotten my ridiculous oversized hat in Virginia." He reaches up and flicks the brim of her hat teasingly. She laughs. Good he was catching on.

"So, what's a girl like you doing with the DEA?" Mike asks. Paige briefly wonders what kind of girl Mike thinks she is exactly.

"Sex, drugs and rock n' roll. Just living the dream." She answers lightly, "Why FBI?"

"My love of Oxford shirts." He fires back quickly. He keeps his face very serious as he says it, but instantly breaks into a smile when Paige chokes on her beer with laughter.

So the kid was funny.

He is just full of surprises.

"So I thought you were deep undercover. Why are you here tonight? Did you finish your case?" Mike asks, looking concerned.

"Why? Do you not want me here?" Paige teases. Mike turns bright red.

"No! I mean, of course I want you." Mike stutters, apparently thinking he'd offended her. "Want you here! I was just- I thought-"

Paige laughs at his reaction. He was sooo easy to mess with. This would be fun.

"Relax Levi. You take things way too seriously." She giggles.

"I just, was wondering how things are going. With your case." Mike finally states shyly. He takes another sip from his bottle that has to be empty by now.

"God, I'll be so glad when that bastard's in jail." Paige rolled her eyes and tugged her knees closer to her chest. "You're right, I probably shouldn't be here. I just needed a night off I guess." Paige answered.

"Well, I'm glad you're here." Mike said quietly.

"Thanks. You too." She said, nudging him with her shoulder.

He looked like he might say something else for a moment, but then shook his head smiling to himself, turning back to look at the fire. A comfortable moment of silence passed as Paige stared over at her friends laughing and teasing each other.

"Well, I should probably go to sleep. Big day tomorrow." Mike said after a moment of silence. Of course he would be the first one to go to bed. He was probably an early riser too.

"Yeah, don't screw it up!" She said cheerfully.

Tomorrow was a big day. If everything went according to Briggs's plan, by this time tomorrow she would be free and that bastard Bobby Moy would be behind bars.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Notes:** You want quick updates, I'll give you quick updates.

**Thanks:** Thanks for the reviews! Always interested to see what everyone else thinks.

- J

* * *

**Skinny Double Dirty Chai**

Chapter 4

Something is wrong, but Paige can't quite put her finger on what it is yet.

She's sitting at the table joking with Johnny.

That's good.

Her beer is cold.

That's good.

Mike is over at the bar, after much urging from her and Johnny, trying out his undercover dating strategy.

That's good.

He's comically failing at it.

That's just hilarious.

Suddenly, she realizes what's been bothering her for the last half hour.

This music sucks.

Paige stands up, and swiftly crosses the floor to the old jukebox, needing to take control of and fix this situation immediately. She can only put up with Jakes' Bob Dylan reggae shit for so long.

Unfortunately, Jakes seems to be guarding the box, leaning menacingly against the machine. He's keeping any brazen souls from challenging his choices through body language alone.

Paige, however, isn't scared of Jakes. She bounces right up to him, and lightly pushes him aside so she can study the selection, and notices that the Asian woman he had been flirting with earlier is nowhere in sight.

"What's wrong chocolate Jesus? Couldn't close?" Paige grins, flipping through the selection of songs, "Was she an atheist?"

"Nah, she's apparently got a kid. She offered to take me home, but I passed. Girl doesn't need another unreliable guy in her life." Jakes says. "I'm surprised you're still here though. Didn't I see you talking to Phil earlier? Where'd he go?"

"Home, I imagine." Paige says, disgusted by the lack of choices in front of her. How could she drink at a bar that didn't even carry the Sex Pistols in their music collection? It just seemed wrong.

"And you didn't go with him?" Jakes asks curiously.

"Nah, the night is young. Plus, I didn't want to miss the show of Levi getting shot down by Pocahontas over there." Paige points over to the bar where Mike is talking to a girl with two dark braids.

"Yeah, I've been meaning to ask you, what's going on with you two?"

"What do you mean? With Phil?" Paige asks distractedly, still concentrating on the jukebox in front of her. Ooh, the Ramones. Yes, please. "Nothing. Same old, same old. I just didn't feel like it tonight."

"No, what's going on with you and Mike. Are you two hooking up or something?"

"Don't be stupid. Of course not." Paige laughs at the idea. First Charlie, now Jakes. This is getting ridiculous.

"Good. Because the kid's in love with you. So watch yourself."

"Shut up! He is not." Paige reaches out to give Jakes a light smack on the arm without even looking up from the machine.  
Jakes just gives her a knowing look.

"He actually said something to you?" Paige is a little taken aback.

She wonders what Mike could have said, because Jakes looks really certain of this, and Jakes is the last person who would voluntarily get involved with romance rumors.

"He doesn't need to. The way he looks at you? It's the same look a junkie gives heroin."

"That doesn't mean he's in love with me. We're friends. Besides, he seems to be doing fine with the Judy Garland wannabe over there." Paige scoffs.

Seriously, who over the age of five wears pigtail braids these days?

"In the two minutes he's been talking to that girl, he has looked over here five times. And even though I look damn good tonight, I'm pretty sure he ain't looking at me." Jakes states, matter-of-factly

Sure enough, as Pippi Longstockings is looking through her purse (hopefully for a brush to fix that ridiculous hair), Mike looks over and catches Paige's eye. He mouths "save me" before turning back to Little Miss House on the Prairie with a fake smile plastered across his handsome face.

Paige can't help but laugh. Jakes gives her a warning look.

"Shut up." Paige says before he can actually say anything. "It doesn't mean you're right. Maybe he's just afraid those tentacles she calls hair are going to wake up and attack him."

"Someone sounds jealous." Jakes says simply.

"I'm not jealous!" Paige claims. "Look, even if the kid has a small crush, which he doesn't, it's understandable. He's just new to Graceland. He hasn't had time to build up immunity to my charms yet. Don't deny it; you're all a little in love with me."

Jakes laughs at this.

"Whatever. I'm telling you, that boy has got it bad. We're talking Shakespeare shit here." Jakes insists.

Even though Paige doesn't believe him, she's still disturbed by Jakes' claim. She is not the romantic type. Her longest relationship was a ten month undercover mission with a Columbian drug dealer, which had ended with her arresting him and pulling a kilogram of cocaine out of his rectum. Not exactly the stuff of fairy tales.

Paige scans the bar for more suitable female companionship for Mike. She's an excellent wing-woman, and Mike shouldn't be too hard to find someone for. He's handsome, smart, sweet, and once you get past his initial nervousness, he can actually be really funny. With fresh resolve, Paige decides on a new goal for the night. Get Mike laid.

"Look it's not a big deal. I'll just find him a new girl who does not look like she escaped from the Chesapeake tribe, and he can get it out of his system. Problem solved." She says resolutely.

Jakes just stares at her, arms crossed and eyebrow raised.

"Stop giving me that look! I swear to you Jakes, it's never going to happen."

"Yeah, alright. But remember, I've heard that before." Jakes nods along, clearly not believing her.

Paige has chosen enough music to last her another hour, and is now satisfied that she can return to the table where Johnny is holding down the camp. Having lost the battle of the jukebox, Jakes follows her back. Paige is glad he seems to have dropped the Mike issue. She doesn't need Johnny giving her shit about it too.

"So Paige, on a related note of things you swear will never happen; since you're not getting laid tonight, do you want to finish watching 'The Town' when we get home?"

"Fuck off, please." Paige chirps cheerfully as she plops down in her seat at the table. "And hell yes, I do."


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Notes:** This chapter is somewhat short, but necessary. I promise the next chapter is super long and fun.

-J

* * *

**Skinny Double Dirty Chai**

Chapter 5

Paige wakes up to the sun rising outside her window. She's not used to seeing the sunrise, at least not from this side, but since last night she had to leave the bar on account of Briggs, there was nothing to do but go to bed early.

Last night's talk with Briggs has her worried. If Lauren had been tracked, Graceland was in danger. This was her home. She likes Lauren, but the house had to be protected.

Even if they weren't tracking her, Lauren was still a problem. What happened with Donny had obviously left her emotionally compromised. You have to be able to trust the people you're in the field with, and Lauren was making irrational, emotional decisions, and it was going to bring trouble for them all.

The simple truth was, Donny and Lauren had gotten too close. It was an unspoken secret the whole house knew about, but was never acknowledged. Paige wasn't sure when or how it started, but she was certain that for the past few months, Lauren and Donny had not been sleeping alone.

Paige was all for breaking the rules, but some were sacred. The house came first. It was your first love, and as long as you lived here, nothing could come before it. Not friends, not family, not love, not even yourself. If Lauren wasn't able to let Donny go, she couldn't stay here. Like Briggs said, "No love in Graceland."

Paige gets out of bed, brushes her hair, and changes into a bikini and some shorts. As she gets ready, she forms a plan on how to covertly make sure Graceland is safe. Once she's presentable, she wanders down the hall to Mike's room. As normal, she walks in without knocking, but is surprised to find his neatly made bed empty.

She takes a moment to look around the sparsely decorated room and at the bare walls. She'd have to take Mike out shopping and find him a painting or something. The no-nonsense bare essentials aesthetic did seem to fit him, but something's missing.

She grabs the yellow note pad sitting on his uncluttered desk. She takes a pen and draws a smiley face on the top sheet, rips it off and sticks it on the wall underneath his mirror by the door. She stands back and admires her artwork, then heads towards the kitchen to grab breakfast. He probably got up before the sun and went for a run. Overachiever.

She sits and eats some fruit and sips some water. She's not used to being the first one up and the silence is unsettling. As she's finishing up washing her dishes, she hears the front door close. Mike must be home. About damn time. Where has he been? He was the early bird roommate. She had been counting on him to keep her company this morning.

She grabs her frisby and goes prancing towards the door to intercept him, but her bouncy prance slows when she sees him. He's wearing the same clothes as the night before. He obviously did not get up early to go for a run, he is apparently just now getting home.

"Hey, good morning." He greets her with a grin.

He is way too perky. Somebody must have gotten some last night. Paige thinks back to the scene at the bar. There had been a girl there who had been checking him out, but Paige had pegged her for more of a prude. Not the type who would go home with a stranger at a bar. Then again, the girl had thought Paige and Mike were together, and had still very obviously been checking him out, which the more Paige thought about it, was fucking rude.

She's surprised Mike would do a one night stand. She pegged him for the type who would want to walk along the beach holding hands and talking. Well fucking good for him. Apparently that nice guy act could get you laid.

She ignores his greeting and chucks a frisbee at his obnoxiously smug face. Here she was dealing with Briggs and Lauren drama all night, and he was out having sex. The world was not fair.

"Want to play frisbee?" She decides not to mention that she's been waiting for him for half an hour.

"Actually, no. I haven't slept yet. I'm kind of tired." He gives her a cocky grin and hands her back the frisbee. Mike doesn't seem to grasp Paige asking was not really a question, more of a formality. She has a plan, and Mike is going to help her execute it. It's the least he can do.

She shoves the frisbee back into his chest, a little harder than necessary. "I want to hear about your sex life, but not right now. We have important things to do."

"Seriously?" He asks.

She rolls her eyes. She doesn't care if he's tired from fucking all night, what Mike does in his own time is his business, but Graceland could be in danger. He has to realize time doesn't just stop for him. Here, there are more important things than him getting his dick wet.

"There's something we need to go look for." She says, before storming out the door in front of him.

She realizes she might be acting a little grumpy towards him this morning, but she tells herself she's just stressed over Lauren. The sooner they get this whole mess sorted out, the sooner Paige will feel better. She just needs to make sure things here don't change.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Notes:** I was going to wait to post this Chapter, but the last chapter was fairly short, so I figured I'd post it. For some reason I have all the even numbered chapters written, but am having trouble finding motivation for the odd numbered ones. Quite frankly I'm shocked I've been able to stay in canon so long. The show keeps feeding my Mike/Paige plot bunnies. Even when he's with Abby he's talking about Paige.

Hope you enjoy this one! I find Paige super fun to write. Somehow it makes total sense to me that her teenage movie star crush would have been Ray Liotta, and that makes me laugh really hard.

**Thanks:** I appreciate the reviews so much! Thank you, thank you.

-J

* * *

**Skinny Double Dirty Chai**

Chapter 6

Paige is walking barefoot down the beach.

She feels exposed. Vulnerable.

She reaches for her gun which she normally keeps at her side, but cannot find it. Instead she just feels layers and layers of frills and lace.

She looks in a mirror, and realizes she is dressed in a long flowing white dress. She reaches back to try to unzip it, but there are thousands of tiny white intricate buttons. As she struggles with the cloud of fabric, she hears someone approach behind her. She whips around to face her attacker, and then sighs in relief.

"Charlie. Thank God. I know I look ridiculous, but I can't get the damn thing off. Help me with the buttons." Paige says.

She turns her back to Charlie, showing her the problem, and lifting her perfectly curled hair. Charlie doesn't help.

"It's time. Let's go." Charlie says, smiling and waiting for Paige to follow her.

"Go where? I can't go anywhere looking like this. Let me change first."

"It's time, Paige." Charlie says in her no-nonsense voice.

Feeling self conscious, but curious, Paige follows Charlie down the beach.

Charlie leads her to a small sand dune with an archway, and then gestures for Paige to enter first. Paige cautiously walks in and sees a long aisle. There are chairs framing each side of it, but no people in them. It's somewhat eerie. She wishes she had her gun.

At the end of the aisle she sees Briggs standing there, behind a podium, looking at her expectantly. Like she should know what to do. There is a man standing to the right, in front of Briggs, but his back is to her and she can't tell who he is.

She backs up cautiously. This is wrong. She wants to get out of here, back to the open beach, but the door behind her is shut.

"It's time, Paige." Briggs calls to her from where he stands up front.

"Time for what?" Her voice echoes in the otherwise empty hall.

She's not moving forward until she knows what the hell is going on. Briggs just smiles at her, like he knows a secret she doesn't. It's the same smile Charlie gave her earlier. It's infuriating.

"Ok, Paul. I hate this. Tell me what's going on, now." Paige is sick of this.

Gun or no gun, people need to start talking. Briggs just smiles that stupid smile though, like it's amusing him that she doesn't know. She looks around the room for clues, but there is nothing other than the empty chairs and the podium up front. Her eyes settle on the man who still has his back to her.

"Hey you. I'm an agent for the United States Government. I am armed and pissed off. I'm ordering you to turn around slowly. Hands where I can see them." She threatens.

She is starting to panic. Something is not right here.

The man turns to face her, and she suddenly can't breathe.

It's Mike.

The fact that it's Mike is not what startles her. What takes her breath away, is the look on his face. She has never seen such a look before. He is staring at her with such focus and intensity that the rest of the room seems to fade away. He's glowing, and the joy in his expression makes her feel like she's glowing too.

She doesn't even realize that she's walking down the aisle towards him, it's just happening. Their eyes are locked and she can't get to his side fast enough. She meets him at the end of the aisle, and his smile is so bright, she can't help but match it.

Suddenly the smile fades from his face to a look of confusion and Paige feels cold. She looks down and sees her white dress stained with red. She looks back up to him, but he's lying on the floor, covered in blood. He's dying. She didn't even hear the gunshot. She starts to scream, and drops to her knees to hold him, but she is being pulled to her feet and dragged out of the room by Johnny and Jakes.

* * *

"Paige! Wake up! You ok?"

Paige is in the living room. The tv is paused, and her housemates are staring at her. She must have fallen asleep on the couch. Her heart is racing, and she feels foolish. It was just a dream. Of course it was a dream.

"Sorry. Nightmare." she says, trying to calm her racing pulse.

"What happened?" Charlie asks.

She is sitting beside Paige on the couch and starts to pet her hair in a comforting, motherly fashion.

"I was at my wedding..." Paige begins.

"Your wedding is a nightmare?" Charlie asks, incredulously.

"No, sorry, not at MY wedding, we were at a wedding. All of us." Paige quickly covers. "I don't know maybe we were undercover or something. Mike got shot."

"I got shot?!" Paige turns around to see Mike sitting on a chair behind the couch, looking annoyed. "Why was it me who got shot? Is it because I'm the new guy?"

"Relax Levi, everyone dies in dreams around here." Johnny scolds, looking for who has the remote for the tv so he can unpause it.

"Yeah, it's our subconscious way of saying we care." Briggs chirps, sitting down next to Charlie with a fresh batch of popcorn.

"So wait, you're saying you have all had dreams about me dying? That's messed up." Mike clarifies.

"I haven't." Jakes says simply from the couch.

Johnny and Charlie crack up laughing at the offended look on Mike's face.

"I did have a dream that Johnny and I were about to get executed by a crazy hippie, but then Paige drove a truck right through the barn and shot everyone up... Oh wait. That really happened today." Jakes continues, ignoring Mike's indignation.

"Paige did what?" Briggs demands. He had clearly not been briefed.

"Oh man this is great, you gotta hear this. So I'm all tatted up to go under as this Mexican drug dealer, and the woman is crazy into me. She wants me bad. And Jakes over here is getting a little jealous of my game..." Johnny excitedly perches on the edge of the couch, forgetting the search for the remote, beginning to relay his version of the story.

"I was not jealous. That bitch is crazy." Jakes argues.

"Whatever man, you totally were. So anyway she's all leaning in like... 'hey want some tea?' and I'm all like 'You know I do girl,' because she was hot. Like smoking hot." Johnny continues on, ignoring Jakes interruption.

"She's also bat shit crazy."

"Dude, I'm telling the story right now. No need to be hating." Johnny whines.

"Fine. Proceed. But I'm telling my version next and Paige will back me up."

"Whatever man, so anyways, as I was saying..."

As Johnny takes over the storytelling responsibilities from Jakes, Paige lets her mind drift back to the dream. She is still really shaken up from it.

What had her worried though was not Mike dying. Johnny was right, she dreamed about her friends dying all the time. It was just natural when under so much stress. What bothered her was the way she felt before Mike got shot. When she was walking down the aisle. The way he looked at her, and the way she felt when he did. She actually wanted to marry him. And that scared the shit out of Paige.

She tries to calm herself down. It was just a dream. She had had sex dreams before. She'd probably had one about everyone in this house, including Mike, so there was no reason this dream should mean anything. Except this wasn't a sex dream. The feelings in this dream were intense and unfamiliar. That look Mike had given her, the bright smile, the adoring eyes.

Damn Jakes. This was all his fault. Really the dream said more about Jakes, putting stupid worries in her head, than it said about her relationship with Mike. They were just friends, and Paige liked it that way. The dream was probably just her reaction to what Jakes had said the other day at the Drop. But she had fixed that. Mike had hooked up with someone else, so clearly Jakes was wrong and Mike couldn't be that into Paige if he had slept with Gabby.

She looks over to where Mike was laughing, listening to Johnny's dramatic retelling of the days events. Mike catches her looking, and flashes her a smile. She feels the same nervous knot in her stomach, and it makes her feel light headed and a little nauseous. She jumps up off the couch and goes to the kitchen to get herself some water.

"Get a grip Paige." She mutters to herself as she fills up her glass at the sink.

"Hey." She drops the glass in the sink in surprise.

She has been so lost in her own thoughts that she didn't even notice Mike enter the kitchen.

"Oh, hey!" she says, picking the glass back up and starting from scratch. "You scared me."

"You ok? You look spooked." He asks, walking over to grab a glass himself.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired. Didn't you hear? I had a big day today."

"I haven't heard yet actually. Johnny's still going on about his physical prowess in there. I doubt he'll get to your part of the story anytime soon. Why don't you tell me?" Mike asks.

He's leaning against the sink beside her, close beside her, while she finishes filling her glass. She is very aware of the way his arm brushes up against hers and how their hips are nearly touching.

"Nothing new. Johnny and Jakes are idiots who almost got themselves killed. I saved their asses. Same old, same old." Paige shrugs modestly, not looking at him as she takes a sip of water.

Did he always stand this close?

Mike pivots so he is standing directly behind her, reaching around her to fill up his own glass, in a familiar fashion. His voice is close to her ear, and Paige feels frozen, caged in against the cool kitchen counter by his warm body.

"Yeah, you definitely don't have Johnny's flare for the dramatic. I'm heading back in there to hear him tell it. I'm just going to wait for him to wrap up the part about taking her to Pleasure Town all night long."

Mike chats away casually, unaware of anything unusual in Paige's behavior. She's certain 'Pleasure Town' is Johnny's phrasing and not Mike's.

"Well that could take a while. I heard about it the entire car ride back to Graceland." Paige laughs nervously at his proximity.

She doesn't dare turn around.

"I still can't believe he slept with a suspect!" Mike exclaims, turning off the spigot and taking a step back to lean casually against the opposite counter facing her.

"You do what you gotta do. There's not that much difference in the dark." Paige murmurs absent mindedly, sipping her water.

Now that he's not so close she can finally think again.

She truly believes what she says. Sex was just sex. She has never thought of herself as the romantic type who would want a big wedding. Marriage was just an outdated form of claiming women as property, and Paige had never wanted to be possessed by anyone. Nor did she have any desire to be responsible for someone else's happiness. Well, not for more than a couple nights anyways. She was just too happy with her independence. So why was that dream still so vivid in her mind?

"So, have you ever..." Mike starts to ask a question.

Paige is so lost in her thoughts she barely hears him. She snaps herself out of it, and turns her head to look at his face. She needs to be able to look at him again without blushing over that stupid dream. It's just Levi for god's sake.

"Sorry, what were you saying?"

"Nevermind." Now it's Mike's turn to look away shyly from her.

"So this dream you had... I got shot?" Mike asks, changing the subject.

"Yeah, sorry about that." Paige looks down at her feet.

Somehow her omission of other details of the dream feels like lying.

"No, don't be sorry. Thanks. For caring." Mike says awkwardly.

She looks up to examine his face curiously. She's not sure what she's expecting to find there. Maybe the look from the dream? But she just sees Mike. She sighs, relaxing a little. She's overreacting.

"Yeah, well next time you make an appearance in my dreams, try not to get shot so fast. Kind of ruins the mood." Paige jokes, trying to lighten the atmosphere of the kitchen.

"The mood, huh?" Mike grins, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Are you having dirty dreams about me?" He flirts playfully.

She grins like a Cheshire Cat, finally feeling like herself again. She never was one for brooding and soul searching. This playful banter is familiar. This is Paige's specialty.

"All I'm saying is, next time you enter my subconscious, make sure to wear the American Flag underpants. I have a scenario involving them and Ray Liotta I'd like to try. If you're lucky, you might even get to watch." She throws him a flirtatious wink.

Yes, Paige's five minute allowance of distress for the week is definitely up. All sunny skies from here.

"A threesome with Ray Liotta. Really? That is your sex dream?" Mike asks dubiously.

"Have you seen Goodfellas?" Paige insists.

Ray Liotta was undeniably the sexiest man alive.

"Yes. Yes, I did... Twenty years ago." Mike teases her. "I'm not having a threesome, real or imaginary, with Ray Liotta. Get me a better costar."

"What makes you so sure I'd choose you over Ray?" Paige winks at him.

Mike clearly did not understand that the first time she saw Goodfellas was when she finally became a woman. Ray Liotta was the perfect human specimen and could never be replaced in her dreams.

"Oh, come on! The man is like sixty!" Mike protests.

"Who would you choose?"

"Anyone is better than Ray Liotta!"

"Who Mikey?" She pesters, happy that they've fallen back into their normal banter.

"I don't know. Look at Hollywood, there's all sorts of choices from THIS century. Russell Crowe? Hugh Jackman?" Mike offers up some actors' names he deems more suitable.

Paige stares at him with a huge smile on her face.

"What?" He asks defensively.

"I just assumed you'd pick a woman." She laughs.

"It's your threesome! The question implied it was a man!" Mike sputters.

"No, nope. It's fine I just didn't know you swung that way. Maybe we should have taken you to a different type of bar rather than the Drop..." Mike starts pacing towards her, and she runs away playfully.

"We could have gone to Swinging Richards! Or The Closet! The Manhole!" Paige yells out random names of gay bars as she runs in laps around the kitchen with Mike in hot pursuit.

"Haha Mike's gay. You're hilarious." He taunts as the two of them face off on opposite sides of the island. "At least I have better taste in men than you."

"No really! I was so off base with the girls I was throwing at you!" She squeals as he chases her around the kitchen. "All I needed was to find you a well built man! Come to think of it, you and Briggs would be adorable..."

"Oh, you take that back right now." Mike warns, jumping over a chair she throws in his way.

"There's a great karaoke night at The Tool Shed on Tuesdays!" She laughs.

"Not in a million years. Remember, I've seen you karaoke!" Low blow.

"Oh, like you could sing any better!" Paige scoffs, ducking out of his reach with a giggle.

"Dying cats could do better." Mike makes a lunge and manages to pin her between himself and the counter top.

"Gotcha!" Mike grins down at her.

She tries to get away, but now that he's finally caught her, he's not letting her go, grabbing her and tickling her mercilessly.

"Say I'm sexier than Ray Liotta." Mike insists as Paige howls in laughter, still trying to escape.

"Never!" Paige manages to squeak out in between giggles.

"You know it's true!"

"Blasphemy!" She laughs.

She manages to push by him, away from the counter, but he catches her, wrapping his arms around her middle, lifting her in the air as he continues to tickle her waist.

"Say it! Or I won't stop!" He threatens.

"Ok! Ok! You're sexier than a young Ray Liotta." She gives in, her sides hurting, and he sets her back on the ground, still keeping a loose hold on her waist.

She turns around to face him, ready to tell him that he would never be sexier than the current Ray Liotta (because damn that man aged like a fine scotch) but when she sees his face she is struck dumb.

He is staring down at her with the exact same smile she saw in her dream.


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Notes:** If you're interested, I also added another new Chapter to Coffee with Cream in the middle of it, because I liked the "O Mouth" episode too much not to. It's Chapter 5(B). It's not much, just another layer of misunderstanding and conflict between Paige and Mike, but I think it adds a little something something.

Can be found here: s/9457732/6/Coffee-with-Cream

Let me know what you like and what you don't!

**Thanks:** Thanks for the reviews! I appreciate them greatly! Sorry I didn't get this one up yesterday as requested, but by the end of the night the words were blurring.

-J

* * *

**Skinny Double Dirty Chai**

Chapter 7

"Yo, thanks for hanging with me today."

Johnny's sounding unusually sincere, and he needs to cut that shit out right this second. Paige expects more from him. Nothing short of light hearted frivolity and sarcasm 24-7. Recently, everyone's been getting so damn emotional, and she will not have it from him.

"Yeah, well Mike had his head doctor, and now you owe me. So..." Paige is keeping this light, dammit.

Just because they live together, doesn't mean everyone had to sync their periods, and share their feelings.

She doesn't know what he's talking about anyway. They hang out all the time. Last night was sauce night and just this morning they had played football with Mike.

Sure, maybe it's been awhile since her and Johnny have hung out one on one. She has been spending most her time with Mike these days, she realizes. She'll have to make it a point to spread her time a little more evenly, and book some more one-on-one with her other roommates.

Not that sitting in a cramped hide-out, in the unlikely event Briggs and Charlie needed backup, counted as hanging out. And was it really one-on-one, when a bunch of grunts are milling about too?

Still, she didn't have anything better to do. Her and Mike had planned to go gorge themselves at the food festival on the docks, but that had fallen through when he had to go see his shrink. Which is good. They don't need to spend every minute together.

"I owe you?" Johnny asks skeptically.

"Yeah."

"For this?"

"This isn't free." Paige states laughing, looking over the file in front of her.

She's not really sure why Johnny asked her in on this case. Did he need her drug expertise or did he really just want to hang out?

"Explain this to me, because Quinn is not a major player. So..."

"No. No, I know but right now he's the only contact we have to Odin Rossy."

It's a stretch, at best. There's really no need for Paige to be here, but something in his voice bugs her. He sounds sad.

Come to think of it, he and Donny had been pretty close. With Donny gone now, Johnny must be feeling lonely.

Paige has been so distracted with her own stuff, she hasn't even asked him how he was doing with it. She feels like a shit friend.

She is going to make it up to him. They are going to hang out more.

"Honestly, who names their kid Odin?" Paige scoffs.

"Badass parents. That's who." Johnny states defiantly, his old pep coming back. "That's dope. Odin!"

"I'm going to let it slide this once. But only because English is not your first language. If it were, you would realize just how stupid the name Odin really is." Paige teases.

"Seriously? Odin's a Norse God. He's the top Norse God. He's like the god of war and wisdom! Nobody would fuck with an Odin!"

Sometimes, Paige forgets how smart Johnny is. Seriously, who knows all the Norse God's?

"Alright, alright. Now, shut up I need to listen." Paige laughs, turning back to the screens.

She's glad that Johnny seems to have gotten over his momentary bout of mushiness.

"Last time I saw the two of you you were all over each other." Comes the voice over the speaker.

Paige's jaw drops.

"Wait. Wait did I miss something?!"

This was HUGE. How could Charlie not have told her about this? She always sensed a sort of vibe between Charlie and Briggs, but she had no idea that they'd ever acted on it.

Johnny grins and nods. Paige is floored. She could maybe understand Charlie keeping this quiet, but Johnny knew and never told her? That boy couldn't keep his mouth shut about anything!

"Charlie and Briggs?" She squeals.

"Mmmmhmmm." Johnny nods.

"Shut up!"

She could not believe it. She felt like she had fallen down a rabbit hole into a completely new world. What did this mean?! How did this happen?

"Woah... woah..."

Johnny spots someone approaching on the screen, and suddenly the room goes into high alert. Even as she focuses on the task at hand, Paige knows this conversation is not over. They will be coming back to this subject later, because Paige wants to know everything.

* * *

Back at the house, Paige still can't believe what went down this morning. She had always known about Donny and Lauren, but Charlie and Briggs?! How many people in this house had hooked up exactly? Were Jakes and Johnny holding hands under the table without her knowledge?

She hadn't slept with anyone since she'd been assigned here. Well, not with anyone in the house at least. She thinks the last time she slept with a man who knew her actual job, she'd been working at the Dairy Queen.

Charlie and Briggs have always seemed so professional. Nothing like the Lauren/Donny drama that went down. How did they handle it so well?

She watched the two of them talking in the kitchen. They were being awfully cuddly. Had they been in a secret relationship for years? All those times Briggs snuck off to get his zen on... Was zen a code word for Charlie? Paige has so many questions.

"Briggs and Charlie only hooked up once right?" Paige asks Johnny suspiciously, watching the two of them like a hawk.

"Just once, or so the legend goes anyway." Johnny says, reclined on the couch.

How could he be so calm about this? This is huge! Mike would understand how huge this is. Where the hell is he when she needed him to freak out with her?

"Well it's about to happen again." Paige says confidently looking at the kitchen.

"Ha. Nuh-uh. You know Brigg's mantra. No love in Graceland." Johnny says cooly.

Paige peers intently at the scene in the kitchen. She can practically taste the hormones radiating off them. No one could live in such close proximity, with that much sexual tension, and not act on it at some point.

"Still it's been a while for both of them."

They weren't the only ones. It had been some time for her as well, and she was definitely feeling it. This morning after the football game, on her way out of her shower, she nearly ran into Mike in the hallway on his way into the bathroom. It took all her self control not to drop her towel, and follow him back into the shower.

"They're not going to risk years of friendship for a quick hit." Johnny says confidently.

"We could have a quick hit." Paige keeps as straight a face as she can.

The look of intrigue on his face as he mulls it over is priceless. Paige dials it up a notch, eating her fruit in an overtly sexual manner, giving him her best sultry stare.

"Oh God. You're lucky I value your brains." He groans, when he realizes she's fucking with him.

Paige cackles. She didn't for one second think Johnny would take her up on it, but she loves taunting him. Plus, it's true. Out of all the housemates, Johnny is probably the one who she'd most likely have a one night stand with.

When she had first come to Graceland, Paige had developed a small crush on Briggs, but that had quickly faded once she'd gotten to know Briggs. Not that anyone really knew Briggs. After a while, the initial awe of his talent turned into more of a sibling relationship. Plus, now that she knew that Briggs and Charlie had hooked up, he was 100% off the table. Paige values her friendships, and in her mind, Charlie has dibs on Briggs whether she acted on it or not.

Paige has never considered sleeping with Jakes. Their energy levels are polar opposites of each other resulting in no chance of any sexual tension. Just camaraderie and respect. Plus she has a rule never to sleep with someone whose hair was longer than hers.

Charlie also violated the long hair rule, so she was off the table too. She is higher on the list than Jakes, however, since Charlie and her had kissed once. Paige won't deny it was fun, but it didn't mean anything. They were undercover and it was just for show. She really just isn't into girls.

And then there was Mike. Paige couldn't deny she'd thought about what Mike would be like in bed. She was sure he would be good. He was good at everything. He was intense, focused, and selfless. Physically he was her type as well. Tall and lean. Muscular, yet not too cut. He had great arms and smelled amazing. She didn't know how he managed to smell clean, literally all the time. Sometimes, Paige wanted to lick him, just to see if he was actually made of soap. No, she had no doubt sex with Mike would be great, but she didn't know if one hit would be enough. For either of them.

Nope, Johnny would be the one. They got along great and were very similar to each other. Neither took things too seriously, and they could easily have a quick romp, no strings attached. There would be no risk of anyone falling in love. It would be like scratching an itch.

Plus, if she had a quick one nighter with Johnny, maybe it would put an end to all the recent tension she felt with Mike. Then they could just go back to being friends, without any worry of romance getting in the way and he'd stop giving her that puppy dog look that made her stomach flutter.

"This is gonna happen." Paige says, getting back to the issue at hand, Charlie and Briggs.

"You wanna bet?" Johnny asks.

"Hell yeah!"

Paige is always up for a new game, especially with Johnny. Especially when she's so clearly going to win.

"You wanna?"

"Mmmhmmm."

"Ok let's do this. Seven days." Johnny sets the terms, "Seven days. Sex happens you win. No sex. I win."

"Ok. Loser, pays the winner's bar tab for a week." Paige sets the stakes confidently.

"Thanks for the free drinks homie." Johnny says nearly as cockily.

They shake on it and it's official.

Good. She needs a new game to play.

This is gonna be fun.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Notes:** Seven episodes down, still completely in canon. Only downside is it's making Paige's story longer than Mike's, which is fine by me because Mike's fairly static in coffee with cream, and Paige gets to go through these subtle changes.

I'm playing around with the idea of doing two follow up stories to these pieces, titled "Ms. Atomic Bomb" and "Mr. Brightside" based off Killer's songs. In it, Paige would be more static, and Mike would get to go through the changes. Lots of jealousy. Lots of miscommunication. Lots of sex. I think I need to wait until the season's done though to see what they do with the characters on the show. Thoughts?

I'm sure when those two kids finally get together on the show, I'm going to be like "screw it. I can't improve on that" and then burn my pages (print it off just to burn it).

- J

* * *

**Skinny Double Dirty Chai**

Chapter 8

"Why am I here again?" Paige asks Mike, and herself, as she chases Mike down the beach towards the Drop.

"I told you. She's getting suspicious that I'm not letting her meet my roommates."

Mike is about ten strides in front of her and not slowing down. She doesn't know what his problem is. Recently he's been so pissy around her all the time. When he had asked her to come out tonight, she thought maybe he'd finally gotten over whatever it was.

"So?" Paige yells ahead at him.

She does not understand what the big deal is. This girl isn't an integral part to any case. Who cares what she thinks as long as she doesn't find out their cover. Why is she still in the picture?

Frustrated with her slow pace, Mike grabs Paige's hand and pulls her along the beach behind him. They are running late, which is typical for Paige, but Mike is punctual and this is clearly stressing him out.

"So, she asked to hang out with you specifically. She's really sweet. Just give her a chance." Mike grumbles.

"Why? I'm not trying to sleep with her." Paige is not happy with this situation. Not happy at all.

"Look. Just be nice, ok?" Mike turns around to give her a last minute pep talk as they get to the door.

"I'm always nice!" Paige declares, offended at his implication. "I'm the one doing you a massive favor here, Levi."

"Paige, you only agreed to come because I promised to do your next three turns on the chore wheel. I did less work to get a thousand rounds of cop killers from Jakes."

"That is nice! You got off easy. Johnny's paying my bar tab for the whole week."

"Why is Johnny paying your bar tab for the week?" Mike asks, temporarily distracted from their lateness.

"I won a bet." Paige grins. Apparently Mike hadn't heard about Briggs and Charlie.

"Do I want to know?" Mike asks hesitantly.

"Oh, trust me. You wanna know. It's good. Most exciting thing to happen since you showed up." Paige grins conspiratorially.

He leans in. The glee in her voice obviously has him intrigued. At the last minute he decides better, shaking his head and pulling away.

"Ok, tell me later. Right now, let's go in. I see her waiting." Mike says, pointing through the glass to where Abby is sitting at the bar. "Remember. Be nice. I told the girl I'm a pilot and I live with you clowns. No work talk. No drug talk. No flirtatious talk. Maybe it's best if you just don't talk much."

Paige realizes Mike is really nervous about this. She isn't sure if it is him rubbing off on her, or something else, but she is nervous too. She really doesn't want to do this. She shakes it off. How bad could it be? She deals with the scum of humanity every day for a living. She isn't afraid of some sorority girl.

"Got it. Pilot. Smile. No talking. Lead the way, Levi." Paige says trying to sound more upbeat than she feels.

Time to get this disaster over with.

"Oh, and one more thing." Mike stops at the door and Paige runs straight into his back.

He turns around to face her. He is so close she can smell his cologne. Does he normally wear cologne, or is that just for Abby?

"Stop calling me Levi." Mike says firmly, turning around and walking through the door ahead of her to greet Abby.

Normally Mike would hold the door open for her. Not that Paige needs the door held open, but she thought Mike had better manners than that.

"Hey sexy lady." Paige turns to see Vance waiting for her.

Thank God he got here on time.

Paige may have forgotten to mentioned to Mike that she had invited a date of her own.

Paige Arkin is no third wheel. The fact that she happened to choose the best looking man she had in her black book, really had just been a coincidence.

"Hey yourself!" Paige puts on her most flirtatious smile, and stands on her tiptoes to greet Vance with a kiss. "Thanks for meeting me here."

As she pulls away she is relieved that Vance is every bit as attractive as she remembered. He was tall, taller than Mike, with great hair and a great body to match. Now if only he could keep his mouth shut for the night and just look pretty.

She doesn't have to look over her shoulder to know that Mike is glaring in her direction. This simply makes her smile even wider at Vance.

"Come on, my friend's buying the first round." She takes his hand and leads him over to a scowling Mike and his doe-eyed date.

Awkward introductions are made. Abby pulls Paige into an uncomfortable hug, and Mike looks like he is trying to crush Vance's hand when he shakes it.

Paige can't help but notice the invisible line that seems to be drawn between the couples. She has to admit, Mike and Abby look good together. Very clean cut and Kennedyesque. She's certain her and Vance look good together too, they're beautiful people, but they probably look severely underdressed in comparison.

It was clear who was on a date with whom, and it was a stark reminder just how different her and Mike really were. She rarely noticed it at Graceland, because he was just Mike there. They got along really well, and every time they were around each other it was comfortable and easy.

Tonight everything felt weird. She realizes maybe her and Mike's friendship is just one of convenience because they work and live together. If they had met under any other circumstance, they probably would not like each other much. She certainly isn't liking who he is right now.


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Notes:**

* * *

**Skinny Double Dirty Chai**

Chapter 9

This is the double date from hell.

By the time the first round of drinks arrive, the conversation has already come to a stilted halt. Paige knows this is going to be a long night. So when Abby asks Paige about herself, instead of following Mike's advice and keeping quiet, she starts to babble to fill the agonizing silence.

"...Actually I moved here to become a punk singer but apparently nobody's really looking for a female Iggy pop. Surprising. At least as a spin instructor I still get to yell at people."

"You can yell at me anytime you want." Vince leans in, and Paige feels his hand on her ass.

"Down boy." Paige laughs nervously, feeling self conscious in front of Mike.

Normally flirting for her job comes naturally to her, but she can feel Mike's eyes on her. Judging her. She doesn't like it.

"Um, Abby so what do you do?" Paige asks, directing the attention away from Vance.

"I've been a student mainly, but last summer I worked for a Senator." Abby says sweetly, smiling up at Mike with doe-eyes.

So basically the girl had never worked, lived a sheltered privileged life in schools her parents paid for, and had played intern shuffling papers in an office for a few months before going on an all expense paid summer vacation. She had all the makings of a purebred socialite trophy wife, with an expensive wasted education.

"Impressive." Paige says politely. Paige is nice, god dammit.

"My dad pulled a few strings."

With Abby's modest confession, Paige can see Mike's whole future laid out for him. The one he's always dreamed about. Move to DC, and with Abby's daddy to vouch for him, he'd move straight up the ranks.

"Looks like you might need a fancier job, Mr. Pilot."

Paige turns to Mike with a grin, now that she feels she had figured out Mike's angle. He was more ruthless than she gave him credit for. Move back to DC, marry the girl. Hell, forget about FBI director, he could be President by age 40 with Abby's connections.

"I don't know. There's nothing quite like the thrill of flying."

He gives her a secret smile, and for a moment she sees the Mike she knows. The one who is learning to love the thrill of being in the field as much as she does. She smiles back, comforted that she won't lose him to DC anytime soon. The moment is interrupted by Vance.

"Tell me about it, I used to fly sentinels."

This is new information to Paige.

"No way, really?" Abby asks, sounding impressed.

"Well a buddy of mine he had a net jet membership. We'd go up to the cockpit and have a couple beers." Vance says.

Paige sighs. He'd be so much prettier if he kept his mouth shut.

"So you guys didn't actually pilot the plane." Mike challenges Vance.

Paige doesn't know why Mike is acting all self-righteous. It's not like Mike's ever piloted a plane either.

"Vance here is a DJ." Paige interjects quickly, trying to stop a fight from breaking out.

"I'm guessing you haven't heard of a club downtown called Primotology?" Vance asks, and Paige prays that they haven't.

"No way, that is my girlfriend's favorite club. Oh my God, what night are you on?"

Of course Abby would have heard about it and act all impressed.

"No, he mainly does private events and things like that..." Paige tries to rush in and cover before Vance can say anything stupid, but it's too late because he's talking again.

"I'm usually there on Tuesdays, but here. Here's my card. Give me a call I'll show you the full VIP treatment."

Paige chokes back a laugh. She doubts little Miss Perfect is Vance's ideal customer.

Mike is glaring at Paige accusingly, and Paige avoids his eye contact, sipping her beer innocently.

"On Tuesday?" Abby asked skeptically.

"Damn right."

"Is that how you guys met?" Mike finally turns his glare away from Paige to Vance.

Why is it, everything Mike says tonight sounds like he wants to start a fight?

"Kind of." Oh god, Vance was telling this story. "I was walking down town one night and this super hot chick she runs up to me and she notices my shirt." He starts to unzip his hoodie.

"I'm kind of his first groupie, so..." Paige quickly interjects before Vance can keep talking.

Vance kisses her shoulder, and she watches Mike's fist tighten around the neck of his beer bottle.

"You know what? For some reason I think she won't be your last." Mike says with a huge sarcastic smile.

For once Paige is thankful Vance is so dumb, because he doesn't seem to catch the insult.

"Thanks Mike. Thanks." Paige says sarcastically.

God he's being such a dick tonight. She doesn't know what Mike's problem is. He's the bastard that dragged her into this situation.

"Hey Paige, can I talk to you for a second?" Mike asks with a forced grin.

It's really not so much a question as an order. He looks like he's ready to strangle her, but that would be a welcome change in comparison to this conversation. This is the most uncomfortable Paige has felt since high school. Between Vance's stupidity, and Abby's saccharine sweetness, Mike could never do enough chores to make up for this.

"Absolutely."

Paige ducks away from Vance to follow Mike across the bar. Maybe they can just call this night a disaster and devise a strategy to leave.

"So you brought your case on our date." Mike seethes.

Paige doesn't see what the big deal is. Sure Vance is dumb as bricks, but he's not that bad. It's not like she brought the entire Mexican drug cartel. So what if she brought some work with her? He brought Abby.

"Relax, Mike he's just a dealer."

Mike always seems to get this way with Paige's 'dates'. She always feels like she's defending her methods to Mike. He's not her caretaker. He has no right to judge her for innocent flirting that gets the job done.

"Great. He's perfect."

Sarcasm. Lovely. Judgmental prick.

"Look around. Most people in here are dealers." Paige defends herself, but Mike won't even look at her.

What the fuck is his problem? Is he jealous? Men. She sighs, but decides to take a different tactic and reassure Mike that Vance is no threat to him.

"He's just my way into an ecstasy ring, and he's not even worth flipping." She assures him.

"Paige, Abby thinks this is a real date." His response is a surprise to Paige, and she grinds her jaw.

Of course Mike's looking out for his precious Abby. He doesn't even care how rude he's being to Paige. She didn't want to come tonight. What was he expecting would happen. That Abby and Paige would be best friends and braid each other's hair? Did he know Paige at all?

God why did men become such pricks to their friends every time they got a new girlfriend? Mike shouldn't even be dating this woman. He should know better.

"Is it?" She challenges him.

He makes a face at her she can't decipher. He's clearly at a loss for words, but she's pissed now and doesn't wait for him to speak.

"I mean you're pretending that you can have a real relationship, and if you were being honest with yourself, you'd know that isn't possible. Not with what we do."

She knows she's being harsh, but he's being naive and she's sick of it. How can someone so smart be so stupid? Put a pretty girl in front of him, and he loses all common sense. He is the most infuriating man she knows!

"Ok look," Paige tries to keep her temper in check, while still getting her point across. "The only way you should continue dating, is if she starts committing crimes."

She hopes her words are sinking in. All she wants, more than anything right now, is to lose the two outsiders, so her and Mike can go drink beer and watch bad tv together at home.

He looks like he might say something, but then something across the bar catches his eye. She follows his gaze, looking for what's going on. She hopes Vance isn't doing anything too stupid.

"I think she just stole the salt."

Most. Infuriating. Man. Ever.


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Notes: **I'm aiming to have this story complete by the time the next episode airs. I've also written some fun future chapters that may become a sequel piece, but I think I'm going to wait to see where the show goes with the Paige/Mike storyline before I post anything. I may just do them as separate individual one shots, rather than putting the effort in to put an overarching storyline.

**Thanks: **Thanks everyone for the reviews! Big thanks to jazzycat08 whose been betaing for me and correcting my many grammatical errors on chapters. If I worked on a better schedule and was less lazy, I might be able to plan ahead to have them beta'd before I posted, but she's doing a wonderful job of putting up with me.

* * *

**Skinny Double Dirty Chai**

Chapter 10

Paige leans against the window, sipping a glass of water as she stares out the window at the ocean, waiting for Mike to return. The house is dark and she's alone with her thoughts. Recently, she finds herself thinking about him constantly. With all that's going on in the house; Charlie's recent heroin use and Briggs's unexplained disappearances, her attention would be better suited elsewhere. Instead, all she finds herself doing is worrying about Mike.

He's been so moody around her recently, and she's convinced Abby is the reason for that. One second, he's being sweet, laughing with her and sitting just a little too close. The next moment, he's glaring at her for covering his ass by stealing Abby's phone. She's not sure what happened earlier tonight, but he looked so miserable. She hopes this means he finally came to his senses and broke up with Abby, and she can't wait until the morning to find out.

From the window she sees him walking back up the beach towards the house, looking deep in thought. Not wanting to be caught spying, she jumps onto the couch and turns on a light, grabbing the packet of printed off papers of the side table and pretending to read.

She hears the front door open and shut. He apparently doesn't notice the light on in the living room because he doesn't come in to greet her. She stands up and pads lightly across the floor, peaking into the kitchen.

She can only see his back as he roots around, bent over, in the refrigerator, but she can tell from his posture he's still tense. She clears her throat.

"So you want to tell me what's got you so upset, that you're drinking alone?" She asks from the doorway.

"I thought we agreed not to talk about this." Mike doesn't turn around to face her.

"Well, you seemed upset at the time, so I let you mope. Now you look better. A little tipsy, but at least you're not still trying to give yourself alcohol poisoning. So talk to me." Paige says, perching herself on the kitchen counter.

"Who says I'm not?" Mike turns around, a new beer in hand. His voice is unusually aggressive towards her.

"Ok fine, then at least toss me one too, so you're not drinking alone. That's just sad." He clearly wants to be left alone, but she doesn't care. She wants him to talk to her. Since he started seeing Abby, their relationship has changed. She wants to be there for him, and he's not letting her in.

He reluctantly grabs a Miller Light from the fridge and tosses it across the kitchen to her. She makes a face.

"Oh no. Not that crap. Grab me the good stuff. Jakes keeps it on the back of his shelf. Behind the sandwich."

Everyone else in the house might be afraid of Jakes's shelf, but Paige is notorious for stealing other people's food. So much so, that she's convinced Jakes has started buying extra of Paige's favorite beer just to keep her from his whisky.

Mike practically growls as he reaches behind the sandwich to grab the drink. He's pissy. He's probably hungry. Mike always gets angry when he's hungry.

"Ooh, toss me the sandwich too." She instructs upon further thought.

"Fine, but I'm telling him you took them. I won't take the blame for you, woman."

He hands her the beer and sandwich. She takes grabs them from him and skips to the living room, sitting cross legged on the couch. She smacks the seat beside her for him to come join.

"Sit."

He reluctantly obeys. Paige doesn't want to push him any farther at the moment. So she bides her time. She picks up the paper from the coffee table, and skims it with her eyes not taking any of it in. She will simply ignore him, and hope he'll get over whatever bad mood he's in.

She sips her beer, and pretends to read. She evaluates his body language from the corner of her eye. He's tense and not looking at her. If he wants to act like a child, she'll treat him like one and ignore his temper tantrum. She picks up the sandwich and takes a bite, holding it over her shoulder towards his mouth in a silent offering, still not looking at him. He leans in and takes a bite and she grins to herself. For the next few moments, this continues until the sandwich is gone. By this point Mike is looking more relaxed beside her, and she struggles to hide her knowing smirks with her beer bottle.

He was definitely hungry. He's so predictable.

Still she waits for him to speak first.

"Couldn't sleep?" He finally asks, and she is thankful that he doesn't sound pissed anymore.

"Well, I just thought I'd stay up and catch up on some pleasure reading." She shrugs casually.

"Really? Reading?"

She's hurt by the doubtful tone in his voice. Is it really so unbelievable? Abby is not the only girl in the world who reads.

"Yes, I know you East Coast Intellectuals think you're the only bibliophiles on the planet, but just because we can out surf, out drink and out sex you, doesn't mean we don't enjoy some light pleasure reading, now and again." Paige mutters.

She keeps her eyes trained on the papers in front of her. Instead of apologizing, Mike reaches out and snatches the paper from her, examining it's contents.

"Paige, you're reading a Supreme Court Ruling on federal marijuana laws. This can't be pleasure reading."

"I find mocking Scalia pleasurable, yes." Paige says, looking him straight in the eye and managing to keep a straight face.

"Were you waiting up on me?" He is sounding annoyed again.

"Can't a girl get her SCOTUS on without getting interrogated?" Paige asks defensively.

Just because Abby's a lawyer, hell not even a lawyer yet, a former law student, doesn't mean she's that much more accomplished than Paige. Paige's job involves the law too.

"Paige, that ruling is like eight years old." He clearly does not believe her.

"Ok fine! I was worried. You looked really upset earlier. What happened?" Paige finally breaks down and asks.

So she was worried. What's so wrong about that? He's getting pissed at her that she cares?

"You know what? Thanks for the concern, but it's been a really long day, and I'm tired. I'm going to go to bed."

Mike stands up and prepares to leave. She reaches up and takes his arm to stop him. She ignores how warm his skin feels under her fingertips.

"Does it have anything to do with the date you were supposed to be on this evening?"

"That's part of it." He admits, gently wrapping his hand around her wrist and pulling her away from him.

"What happened?" She hopes he broke up with her. He might mope for a few days, but he'll get over it and everything can go back to normal.

"Look, it just sucked, ok? The lying, the alibis, everything about this undercover dating game sucks. We were out to dinner, ran into one of Bello's guys and I had to fake a stomach ache to get her out of there. But it's cool, I'll just text her tomorrow and try to make up for it. Again."

"Why are you with her Mike?"

"Fuck." Mike swears under his breath, turning away from her. They had had this conversation before. Several times.

"No, I seriously want to know. It's not good for your cover. You complain about the stress of it all the time. Why the fuck are you with this girl? Are you in love?" As soon as the words leave her mouth, Paige realizes she doesn't want to know the answer.

"Because I'm a man ok! I know you think of me as little Mikey, the new kid brother who only cares about work and the rules, but you know what? I have needs. And I'm not going to apologize for that. Least of all to you."

"What the fuck does that mean? Least of all to you."

"You're a smart girl, Paige." Mike brushes by her cooly. He takes an exaggerated casual sip of his beer and shouts back over his shoulder, "Figure it out!"

He doesn't look back as he strides towards the door. She glares after him. Why least of all to her? Did he think she was a slut and couldn't control her needs? How dare he?

No. He can't just say something like that and then walk away. He needs to stay and explain himself. If you start a fight, you finish it. Ok, maybe she was the one who started the fight, but still she would not let him leave like that.

"No! Stay and fight you pussy!" In one swift motion, Paige kicks his legs out from under him. Mike catches himself between the couch and the wall before he hits the floor.

Maybe now she finally has his attention.


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Notes: **So obviously did not reach goal of having story finished before last night's episode aired, which is a shame, because last night my record breaking streak of staying in canon ended. So last night the episode veered off my plotted court, which is fine, because I liked last night's episode. Loving all the Paige Mike scenes. It's almost exactly how I envisioned it.

Only issue was I thought it was a little weak of an Abby exit, and I like the thought of Mike actively choosing Paige/Graceland over Abby/DC/Baltimore rather than wanting Abby/DC/Baltimore and not being able to get it so he settles with the other choice, but I digress.

Sorry it took me so long, the scenes are written, just need some heavy handed editing that I've lacked time to do.

**Thanks: **Thanks everyone for the reviews!

* * *

**Skinny Double Dirty Chai**

Chapter 11

Paige braces herself.

She is unafraid of facing whatever storm may be brewing under Mike's controlled exterior. Fighting is familiar. She's not afraid of him, and he's not afraid of her. Maybe after one good screaming match, they can work out their issues. Their issues obviously being his issue. An issue named Abby.

She watches the muscles in his back contract under his T-shirt as he takes a deep breath. He slowly straightens himself up to his full height. A height that towers over hers. She waits, watching as he very slowly turns. By the time he's facing her, he's regained his composure.

"You made me spill my beer." He says simply, taking a long controlled swig from the bottle. His eyes remain locked with hers the whole time, flashing dangerously.

The man is infuriating.

Paige rips the beer bottle from his smug mouth, and throws it across the room. The glass shatters somewhere, but both sets of eyes remain locked with the others. The tension is building, Paige can feel it crackling between them, until Mike breaks it. Smiling an infuriating smirk he shrugs, "Fine by me, it's Briggs's turn to clean the living room anyway."

"So your answer is she lets you fuck her? That's why you're making yourself miserable?" She demands.

How dumb is he? He can't be that hard up for sex. He's fucking gorgeous.

"Look at yourself Mike. You could get laid anywhere!"

"Oh, but-" He opens his mouth to reply, but she preemptively cuts him off.

"And don't even tell me the sex with her is special, because I refuse to believe that your little Miss Ivy League Princess is THAT good in bed." She pauses to give him a pointed look, daring him to contradict her.

"…Unless you have a fetish for cardigan sweaters and enjoy your lights-out, five minutes of vanilla missionary sex before the obvious highlight, the *spooning*." She emphasizes the last word with dripping sarcasm, once again pausing to let her words sink in and giving him a chance to react. When he doesn't she continues, "...Before slipping into the bathroom once she falls asleep to finish yourself off in the toilet."

It does not escape her notice that he hasn't rushed to defend his little girlfriend's honor, which surprises her.

"If that's it Mike, you could jerk off here, and quite frankly, I suspect the toilets here at Graceland have better porn." She leans in close, placing one hand on his shoulder. The other hand cups around her lips, which she presses close to his ear, to whisper her last taunt like a well-guarded secret, "I've looked. Johnny's a connoisseur."

She pulls away smugly, expecting to at last have brought a rise out of his composed fasquade. Instead he just stands there, still and blank. He is no longer even making eye contact. Just staring straight ahead, like a statue.

She almost slaps him.

Almost.

Instead she just lets out a growl of frustration and turns away, punching the couch. Because if she stares at his stupid face for a second longer she will smack him. Just to see if he'd feel it.

"Look, you're going to get yourself killed. She's making you moody and distracted. End it." Her voice falls to a serious quiet tone.

"Paige," His voice cracks and he clears his throat. Running his hand down his face, he shakes his head. He averts his eyes to the floor.

"Out here, I feel like I'm always screwing up. Like I can't trust anyone. I've done things I never thought I'd do, and sometimes I just hate myself. I just need someone who loves me. She does that." He mumbles lamely.

"Bullshit." Paige doesn't believe that shit for a second. "She doesn't know who you are! Maybe you like being with her because she reminds you of the guy you used to be back at the academy, but you're not that guy any more, Mike."

"Well I can't tell her who I am, now can I, Paige? I can't tell anyone."

"That's the job! You can't break your cover, and you can't get too close."

"I'm not you Paige! I can't just flirt with whoever happens to be closest and not care."

"Well you're gonna have to learn! Because at Graceland, the only things you can afford to care about are the job and the house."

"Fuck! I don't even know what I'm doing here. I didn't sign up for this. All I wanted was to be in DC!"

"So what? It's a little hard, so you're going to just give up? You shouldn't give up on Graceland. Sure, it can get hard, but the house has to come first. Always. If you want to run off to Baltimore-"

"I never knew you were an option!" He suddenly screams at the top of his lungs, and her voice dies in her throat.

His words hang in the air between them.

He broke the rule.

The one simple rule that kept their friendship intact; that they never say out loud the thing that was between them. The undefinable thing. The tension that filled the air every time they were in the same room.

She knew he cared about her. She wasn't blind. She saw the looks. She felt the heat as he sat a little too close and let his touch linger a little too long. But it was fine, because they never spoke it out loud. Other people may, but she could always laugh it off like she didn't believe them. Now it was out there and she could no longer pretend not to know.

They stand there, in frozen time. Staring at each other. Not a sound in the room other than their rough breathing.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean..." Mike starts to apologize, to backtrack and rephrase.

Yes, she wants him to take it back. Pretend like it never happened. She can pretend not to have heard him and he can pretend he was so drunk he didn't know what he was saying.

She sees the change as he decides to own up to it. He's really doing this.

He takes a deep breath and stalks towards her. He stops when he is standing just mere inches away from her. He's looking at her intensely. She fears he might kiss her.

"I didn't know." He repeats. "I mean, I hoped, but you're so hard to read, and then there was the Abby thing and I just assumed..."

Mike trails off looking at her as if she's supposed to say something. What does he want her to say? He broke the rule.

"I'll make this simple for you. I may complain, but I'm not going anywhere. I've been given an assignment and I'm prepared to see it through. And I'm going to keep dating Abby, unless you give me one damn good reason not to."

"I've already told you-" Paige stammers.

"Don't play dumb, Paige. It doesn't suit you." Mike says sharply.

What does he want her to say? That she wants him? Fine. She does. She's only human, but this can't become anything real so why does he have to mess up what they have together? Why did he have to talk about it? She doesn't want to lose him, and if they were to get together it was an inevitability. If they could just remain friends though, then he could stay in her life forever.

"Give. Me. A. Reason." He growls.

She knows what he's asking. He's broken the rule and now he's asking her to break it too. She stands there silently glaring up at him. Just because he couldn't control himself didn't mean she had to join him in his weakness. She could be strong. Sure there was a temptation there, but they didn't have to act on it. She just needed a minute to figure out how to fix this. She couldn't think with him so close.

"Ten seconds, Paige. I'll give you ten seconds, and then I'm going to bed. Ten. . . Nine. . ."

"Fine. Marry the bitch for all I care. Get yourself killed, but don't you dare take the house down with you. And for god's sake stop whining about it all the time. It's pathetic."

She doesn't mean it. She doesn't know what she means, but it certainly wasn't that.

"You know what Paige?!" Mike yells back at her, and then stops himself. "Fuck it! I'm done! Have a nice night. I'm going to Abby's." He yells as he storms towards the door.

"To accomplish what? It's two in the morning and she thinks you have food poisoning!"

How like Mike. Retreat to his little girlfriend, right when things gets difficult. She's glad she's not dating a coward like him.

"Oh yeah? Well, suddenly I'm miraculously cured! Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go have some vanilla cardigan sex!" He throws her words back at her. The image of Mike making pale preppy love to Abby flashes through Paige's brain like an unwelcome peep show. She grabs the closest thing she can to throw at him.

"Well then make sure you take this! You'll need it for later!" She yells, reaching down to the coffee table, grabbing a magazine and chucking it at his head. The magazine unfortunately falls short.

"This is a Guns & Ammo magazine!" He yells back at her, after inspecting the failed projectile.

Of all the times Charlie has told Johnny not to leave porn lying around the public area and NOW he listens?!

"Yeah? Well, it's still sexier than your girlfriend!"

Mike stares at her for a moment, looking like he might say something, but then gives up with a frustrated growl. He storms out the door slamming it behind him.

Paige stands there in the empty living room, staring at the door. She tells herself that any second now he'll come back. She'll apologize. Then they can both calm down, and they'll probably laugh about it later.

Any second now he'll come back...


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Notes: **Because I've been so bad about updating this past week, here's a second chapter for today. A little lightheartedness was needed after all the recent angst.

**Thanks: **Thanks to "youswear" dot com! A fun site that this Chapter allowed me to find. It provided me with endless amusement and several creative new come backs.

* * *

**Skinny Double Dirty Chai**

Chapter 12

"Mmmm... Oh my god. This fish taco is amazing..." Paige moans, closing her eyes to savor the delicious creation. It has been too long since she's been to Hector's. She should make this taco stand her new home while she's taking a hiatus from Graceland.

Johnny snorts in response.

"What?" Paige asks with her mouth full. The food was so good, that up until that moment, she had forgotten Johnny was even there.

"It's nothing it's just..." Johnny raises his taco to his lips and tongues it suggestively.

"You're such a pervert." Paige laughs, shoving Johnny playfully.

"Taco slut."

"Food voyeur."

"Tortilla Tortillera" Johnny retorts in Spanish.*

"Oh are we doing this bilingually now? Because Eðer oraya gelirsem seni sikerim!" Paige challenges.**

"What is that? Arabic?" Johnny pauses the duel of words.

"Turkish." Paige laughs, going back to her taco.

"Yo. Thanks, for meeting me for lunch." Johnny says, taking a seat on a sidewalk ledge.

"Thanks for paying." Paige grins back, sitting beside him.

"Yeah, well it seemed like the only way I'd get a chance to see you. You've been a ghost these last few days. What's up?" Johnny asks.

"I'm working on a case." Paige says, focusing on her food instead of him. It wasn't entirely a lie. She was working on a couple cases, but that really had nothing to do with her recent scarcity around Graceland.

"Which one? Isn't Bobby Moy locked up?" Johnny asks.

"New one." Paige says noncommittally.

"Really? Who are the players? Maybe FBI has something, and I can help out. Get you back home. The dude-girl ratio is getting dangerous. If we lose Charlie, it's gonna turn into a complete sausagefest." He looks at her seriously, like he's divulging a secret. "You gotta come back. The house is starting to smell rank."

"Gee, you make it sound so appealing. Ripe locker rooms. My favorite smell." Paige says sarcastically.

"I'm concerned! There's something funky going on."

"Ew. Spray some Fabreeze."

"No, not just that. Though Jakes's room. Seriously." Johnny gives her a disgusted look. "No, but other stuff. Everyone's acting so weird recently."

"Weird how?" Paige asks, taking a sip of her drink.

"I don't know... Just like everyone seems to have these things they're not saying." Johnny says.

Paige makes a face, thinking of the other night with Mike. Some things are better left unsaid.

"Hey, you would tell me if something were up right?" Johnny asks suddenly turning to her.

"Yeah, of course. Nothing's up. Why?" Paige forces a smile. She is not going to make this Mike thing a bigger deal by talking about it with other people. It will all blow over soon if she just ignores it.

"Oh nothing, it's just like I feel out of the loop recently with stuff." Johnny says, throwing a french fry at a seagull. "But you trust me right? I mean, you know I goof around a lot but if something were really wrong, you know I'm there for you?"

"Of course Johnny. Nothing's wrong. I just gotta get some things under control on my cases before I can come back to the house. What's bringing all this on? What's happening at the house?"

"Yeah. No, Jakes said something the other day. Got in my head."

"Oh, ignore Jakes he's a grumpy old grizzly bear."

"Yeah, and he's worse with you not around. You're like the only person in the house the man can stand."

"Well you can't hold yourself to my standard of awesomeness. That's just not fair to you." Paige grins.

"No seriously! How did you get him to like you?"

"I don't know. You'll figure it out. You always do. How did you get me to like you?"

"I buy you food." Johnny says simply. "Is that it? Did you give Jakes your taco?"

"Ew. None, of your business and clearly no."

"I meant the literal food type. Though if the other way worked, let me know, because I'm getting pretty desperate."

"When have you ever known me to share food?"

"Good point." Johnny conceded. "You know I think he might even be starting to like Levi more than me..."

"Really? What's Mike doing?" Paige asked, trying to sound nonchalant. He brought up Mike, not her.

"I don't know! That's the maddening part. I mean I saved the dude's life with a bucket in that barn! You think that would count for something! Oh my god, that's it... Do you think I need to make Jakes a friendship bracelet?"

"If you do, I want to be there to witness you trying to put it on him." Paige said, intrigued by the potential for hilarity, but disappointed that the conversation seemed to be leaving Mike without satisfying her curiosity. "What about the other guys? How's Charlie doing after the whole heroin thing. Are you watching her?"

"She's good. Hasn't seemed to have a problem with the heroin, but she's getting a little crazy about this Odin thing. She seems to think Briggs's has something to do with it. I don't know, everything's so whacked recently. Something's not right."

"Is everyone acting weird? Or is it just Charlie and Jakes?" Paige asks, once again trying to sound discreet. _Talk about Mike you blabber mouth!_

"Well, you know, Charlie's got a point. Briggs has been really strange recently, but I just can't believe he'd get involved with a guy like Odin y'know?"

"Yeah. That does sound crazy. You sure Charlie's clean?"

"Yeah, I don't know what's going on, but I'm pretty sure it's not that." Johnny shakes his head, deciding to change the subject. "So when you coming back to the house?"

"In a couple days. I'm just waiting for a few things to blow over." Paige answers as honestly as she can.

"Well let me know if there's anything I can do to speed things along. Everyone's so wrapped up in the Bello case, it would be good to have an outside player, you know?"

"Yeah, thanks Johnny. I'm sure I'll be back soon. I just need to figure a few things out first. Get a little space from Graceland." Paige says, staring out towards the ocean.

"Ok, that there!"

"What?"

"Something's wrong. That's not like you. You never want space from Graceland. When you have problems, that's the first place you want to be to recharge, and I've asked around. Chad, the bartender at the Drop, says he hasn't seen you recently, at all. What's going on?"

"Nothing!" Paige sputters defensively. "This case is just really taking a lot of my time."

"You got a new secret boyfriend or something? It's not that Vance guy is it?"

"Who?" Paige runs through her mind the number of Vance's she knows, trying to figure out what Johnny's talking about.

"I don't know. Mike was ranting the other day about you dating some guy named Vance. According to Mike, he's really wrong for you. I don't know what exactly happen, but Mike bitched about it for weeks. We went to a shooting range, and he even named his target Vance. I have never seen a dummy take so many hits to the groin in my life!"

"Oh, like he should talk! How many times a week does he nearly blow his cover because he can't let go of that Abby girl!" Paige rants. She's now fighting with Mike even when he isn't present.

"Hey, dude, chill. You know I got your back on this, but maybe you should cut the boy some slack. He's new to all this. Besides he's not like you and me. For some reason, I don't understand, he wants to be tied down. I mean, I'm with you. Best to keep things simple. Relationships get too messy, but he's gotta find that out the hard way. Let's just hope no one gets killed in the process." Johnny says. Johnny is always such a peacemaker, how he ever became FBI is beyond her.

Johnny's phone beeps, interrupting any reply Paige might have.

"Speak of the devil. That's a text from Mike. We're supposed to meet at the Drop. You want to come?" Johnny asks.

"No, I think I'm good." Paige says, trying to calm herself down after hearing Mike was gossiping about her to the house.

If she saw Mike like this, she'd probably start a bar brawl. Plus, if Mike was meeting Johnny at the Drop, that means she can sneak home to Graceland and switch out her clothes rather than having to go shopping for clean underwear. It will buy her a few more days away.

"Suit yourself, but whatever's going on, fix it so you can come home. Graceland needs you." Johnny says, pulling her into a hug and planting a friendly kiss on her forehead. "And don't worry about the Mike thing. I promise I'll do my best to try to get him to go home with a waitress tonight."

Somehow, this does not make Paige feel better.

* * *

* Tortillera - spanish for lesbian

** "Eðer oraya gelirsem seni sikerim" Turkish for "If I go there, I'll fuck you."


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's note:** I am so sorry it took me this long to post this next chapter. It's not even good. I've lost the bug for this story ever since the show moved ahead of my storyline (Right after "O" mouth). I have done everything to try to get it back. I even made a Mike/Paige picture slideshow (seriously, it's on youtube, you can find it). So finally I just banged out this pathetic chapter and I'm posting it. Luckily the last three chapters were basically already written beforehand, and I kind of love them. So those should be out soon.

**Thanks:** Thanks for all the words of encouragement, the PM's, the reviews, the favorites. Thanks to my beta. Thanks for your patience.

* * *

**Skinny Double Dirty Chai**

Chapter 13

Paige throws her hair back, laughing flirtatiously, and crossing her near naked legs so her skirt slides seductively up half an inch. The man whose lap she is occupying ogles her openly, obviously appreciating her party girl show. His hand rests on her knee, and he leans in so close, she can smell the alcohol on his breath.

Scott Grayter has to be the biggest tool she has ever met in her entire life. She's spent the entire night perched on his lap, laughing at his vapid trust fund stories, and pretending to be impressed by his big man on campus attitude. She realizes that even if she nails this guy, his daddy's overpaid lawyer will guarantee he never sees jail time, but at least it should ruin his plans to become president. Plus, he's the closest link she has to a new drug supplier that seems to have monopolized the local campus crowd.

She takes another sip from the same beer bottle she's been refilling with water all night. She has been flirting to postpone shooting up with heroin. She knows she can incriminate this guy tonight and close one of the biggest college drug rings in California, but she needs to "shoot up" to get it done, and she doesn't have her hemoglobin kit.

Her eyes covertly scan the room for Charlie, but widen when she sees who's standing in the doorway. Mike is staring straight at her, looking as out of place in his blazer and t-shirt as he did that first night she saw him at the bar. Her pulse quickens when she sees him. She wasn't prepared to face him yet. From this distance she can't interpret what the emotion is hiding behind his eyes, what he's doing here, or what kind of mood he's in.

She considers ignoring him, staying right where she is in Scott's lap. Mike would have to come over and talk to her then, and he'd have to be civil and keep his cover or else Scott and his friends would probably beat the crap out of him. As appealing as that idea seems, she excuses herself from Scott's lap and makes her way out of the room towards the bathroom. She doesn't have to look behind her to know Mike is following her. She walks into the bathroom, but leaves the door unlocked.

Mike follows her in, turning to lock the door and shut out the pounding noise from the party outside. He turns to face her and he looks pissed. She just glares at him. She refuses to speak first.

"So," Mike says sullenly, "You look like you're having fun."

"And you look out of place." She snaps at him. "What, did Bello decide you needed babysitting lessons so he sent you here?"

"Look, let's just make this quick. Then I'll leave so you can get back to your little 'frat bro'. His lap must be getting cold." Mike says coolly, leaning up against the counter.

"Fine by me. Let's just get this over with, while it's still early enough for you to meet up with Abby. Does she still have a bedtime?" She ignores his rude comment about Scott-the-tool, looking in the mirror and fixing her hair.

"You know it amazes me how even in a house of drunken teenagers, you still manage to be the most immature one here." He's doing that thing Mike does when he's pissed, where he sarcastically says his insult with so much pep, that you'd think he was complimenting you. He is really looking for a fight tonight.

"Whatever stalker. No one asked you to come." Paige rolls her eyes in the mirror, still not giving him the satisfaction of acknowledging his insults.

"Someone had to bring you your hemoglobin stash since you're too chicken shit to come back home and get it yourself. What? You can't even be in the same house as me now?" Mike turns and leans in on the counter aggressively in her direction, trying to get her to look at him. She doesn't turn but meets his glare in the mirror.

"I've been working hard recently. I haven't had that much time to be home." She says casually, putting on a fresh coat of lipstick.

"Oh, don't even pretend this is not about what happened the other night." Mike challenges, clearly not believing her.

"See that's your problem Mike. You read too much into things. Everything I do is not about you." Paige turns and lies straight to his face.

Why couldn't he just let things go? If they could just forget about the fight the other night, things would go back to normal, but it was five days later and they were still having the same fight. She didn't even know what they were fighting about anymore.

"Well maybe if you didn't run away from every damn feeling-"

"Maybe if you stopped letting your feelings get in the way of the job then-" She yells over top of him.

"You're right. We should just forget everything and go back to being nothing more than coworkers." Mike says with a huff of frustration.

"Great. We finally agree on something." Paige is pissed he would even threaten her with that. What is he saying? If she's not willing to marry him, they can't even be friends? She needs out of this bathroom now. "Now shut up and give me the hemoglobin so I can get out of here."

He pushes away from the counter and reaches into his pocket, clearly this conversation was not going the way he had rehearsed, and knowing Mike, he probably had rehearsed.

"Shit."

"What now?" Paige growls.

"I don't have it." Mike admits.

"Perfect. You have one job to do, Levi. When they ask me why I shot up with real heroin, instead of my dupe I'll just explain, Mike forgot my drugs."

She can't believe this. Paige is great at her job dammit. The fact that her personal life is now interfering with her work infuriates her.

"I didn't forget it. Johnny has it." Mike says defensively.

"Johnny has it? Why does Johnny have it? Where's Johnny?"

"He's here somewhere." Mike says, opening the door to the bathroom and walking out into the hallway with Paige following his lead. "Let's just find him, and get this over with."

"Why are you here then? It's not exactly a two person job. Are you seriously that needy?" Paige complains.

"Ok. That's it. We need to talk about this." Mike grabs Paige by the arm, and drags her into a back hallway away from the crowd, near the kitchen.

"Now? Seriously you want to talk about this on the job? I'm working here, Mike." Paige protests as Mike pulls her along.

"When else am I supposed to talk to you about it? You've been avoiding me for a week." Mike demands, turning to face her once they get to a private enough area.

"Well, maybe that fact alone should tell you I don't want to talk about it."

"Look, I'm sorry I even hinted that I might have feelings for you. Believe me, anything I thought I might be feeling is gone now. Are you happy? I now feel absolutely nothing towards you except aggravation." Mike growls quietly, both his hands on the wall next to her head, caging her in so she has no choice but to look at him.

Paige wonders if she could find any way to kick him in the balls and make it look like an accident. It's a small hallway they're standing in, and he's close. Dangerously close. As they both stare at each other, with anger flashing in their eyes, Paige is suddenly not sure if she wants to kick him or kiss him.

"What is that smell?" Mike asks, as a strong sweet scent pervades the hallway.

As a DEA agent Paige recognizes the smell instantly.

"Diethyl Ether."

"Wait, like the stuff they use in Meth?"

"Yes, but it shouldn't be that strong…" Paige says, suddenly in high alert agent mode.

"What does that mean?" Mike asks.

"Run."


	14. Chapter 14

**WARNING! READ THIS FIRST:**

This Chapter is nothing but smut.

If you are not comfortable reading dime-store quality harlequin bodice ripping lemons with graphic cliche descriptions of hetero sex acts between two consenting adults SKIP THIS CHAPTER.

If you choose to skip this chapter, here's the PG version:

"Paige decides it's a great idea that her and Mike act like an amorous couple to fool the police. Things escalate quickly. They sleep together, and considering Paige has never had sex with a guy who actually cares about her before, she is left very overwhelmed and confused."

If you only go to the M-rated category for the sexy times, enjoy. Sorry it's taken so long to get here. And if you've skipped the first 13 chapters just to read this part WELCOME.

As always reviews and PMs are greatly appreciated. I love discussing these characters.

-J

* * *

**Skinny Double Dirty Chai**

Chapter 14

Paige's eyes dart around, calculating all the variables. It's just her and Mike. They are on a nearly deserted beach, and are both unarmed. They've run far enough, backup wouldn't even know where to find them.

There are local police officers walking up the nearly deserted coastline, questioning the few people they find along the way. These are not the type of professionals who would know who her and Mike are. They are glorified security guards at best. Mike and Paige could quickly end up in jail and risk blowing their cover.

From where she's crushed up against Mike's chest, she can only imagine what they look like; suspicious, burned, and tussled. She smells like she's taken a bath in chemicals and smoke, but somehow Mike still manages to smell clean, with a slight hint of sweet from the ether. The cops would know they were at that party in a second.

Their only hope is a small tent up the beach. Paige has a crazy plan. "Follow me."

Crawling into the small tent, Paige knows what Alice must have felt entering the Rabbit Hole. She knows this will turn her whole world upside down, but tells herself this plan will work. Mike follows her in and turns around to zip up the tent, leaving them completely alone together.

He's talking but she can't hear what he's saying with the blood pounding in her ears. He turns around to face her, and before she loses her nerve, she leans forward and presses her lips firmly to his. His whole body instantly freezes. She gently brushes her mouth against his, hoping he will get the idea. After a moment of hesitation, she feels his lips start responding to her.

For a minute they just kneel in front of each other, not touching, connected only by their lips. The two learning each other's patterns and tastes. Paige kisses men all the time, but this feels different. She feels a rush of butterflies in her stomach as his mouth moves softly against her own. This is new and it feels like a beginning.

One of his hand rests lightly on her waist and he tentatively brings the other up to cradle her face. He kisses her cautiously, like he's afraid of breaking her.

"Wait. Paige. What brought this on?"

His words barely penetrate her haze. She doesn't want to hear them. She wants his lips back against hers. She grabs the back of his head and pulls him back down to her eager mouth, hoping he will let it drop. When he slips his tongue between her lips, she whimpers appreciatively.

Their kisses are becoming deeper and more frenzied. Her fingers tangle in his hair and she can feel his hands running up and down her sides, as if he's trying to memorize every inch of her.

This is good, Paige thinks. This way when the cops find them, they will just assume they're two crazy kids in love who can't keep their hands off each other. No one questions that. His lips are so soft against her own and he's so tender with her, that for a moment, even Paige can pretend that it's true.

If the cops open the tent and see them though, they might notice their clothing is burned. Mike needs to take off his shirt. It would look too suspicious otherwise, she tries to justify it to herself. Plus if they're in states of undress, it will help their cover. They have to get rid of the evidence.

She brings her hand to the collar of his jacket, pushing it from his body, letting her fingers sink into the muscles of his well defined biceps. His kisses develop a new level of intensity, and her mind begins to fog over.

Too many clothes. He's still wearing too many clothes. She reaches blindly down to the hemline of his shirt, clawing at it, trying to pull it off him without breaking the kiss, but it's impossible. Mike's a quick learner, though. He quickly breaks away from the kiss, and helps her yank the offending article over his head.

The moment of separation from each other feels like an eternity. She doesn't even have a chance to appreciate the sight of his shirtless form, because their mouths crash urgently back together again, a blur of teeth and tongues.

His lips feel amazing against her own, but there's so much fresh new flesh to explore that her lips wander off to press against his jaw, his throat, his neck. She wants to taste every inch of new skin available to her.

"Paige, I..." She hears him gasping, and knows she won't be able to leave his mouth unoccupied for long. Mike will start talking, and ruin this moment. She reluctantly starts the trail back up his neck. "Is this... What..." He's panting as she reaches his jaw.

"Don't you dare start thinking." She growls dangerously, ripping her own shirt over her head. It's a warning to him, but to herself as well. She doesn't want to think about this. Not now. All she wants are his lips back against hers.

For once, Mike listens to her. His pupils are dilated and he gives her a hungry stare. He reaches out and places one hand to the small of her back, jerking her forwards, crushing her body against his. He presses his mouth to her collarbone, and traces his tongue along her curves. His lips trail from her shoulder to her neck, pausing to pay extra attention to where the two meet. He sucks lightly there, marking her as his own, and eliciting a pleasured moan from her. Her fingernails dig deep into his shoulder, leaving small moon indentations to mark him as well.

"Do you know how long I've wanted this?" He whispers in her ear. She wants to tell him to stop talking, but his tongue flicks into her ear cavity, and she feels his teeth sink into the fleshy lobe and all words are lost in a soft moan. Her ear is her most sensitive spot.

"Take off your pants." She orders huskily. This has gotten out of control, but Paige no longer gives a damn. She wants him now.

He pulls away to quickly unhooks his belt and jeans. It's the first time since they've entered the tent that she's actually had a chance to really look at him, and she takes advantage of his distraction to take in the vision.

His normally neatly styled hair is sticking up in every direction. His lashes are long and lowered as he concentrates on his belt. His cheeks are flush and he bites his lower lip as he works the fly with nimble fingers. Even in the dark of the tent, she can see the outlines of muscle that interlace every inch of his arms and chest. He's just fucking gorgeous.

She lays back on the floor, and reaches out in a silent invitation to join her. He's looking at her with nervous eyes. Any second now, one of them could come to their senses and stop this.

He's taking too long. She grabs his arm to pull him to her. He loses his balance, falls forward and crashes on top of her. His larger body is heavy, and it knocks the breath from her, but having him back this close to her feels perfect. He scrambles to support himself with his arms, pulling away slightly in the process, and she misses his comforting weight. She needs him closer.

She wraps her legs around him. All this movement has her skirt hiked up to her waist. She uses her feet to nudge his pants down his thighs, until they are a pool of fabric around his knees and there's only air and a thin layer of lace between them.

He's hovering over her, still not close enough. She can see in his eyes, he's thinking and there is no time for that. Paige wraps one sculpted limb around him, the heel of her foot digging into his ass. The other foot presses to the ground for leverage, allowing her to raise her hips up to meet his.

Finally she can feel him hard against her, through the thin damp layer of fabric separating them. She grinds her hips against him, closing her eyes to savor the sensation.

His hips slow, and she feels him tenderly brush her hair back from her face. She opens her eyes in confusion at the soft touch, but his eyes are closed and he leans down slowly to chastely kiss her. She's confused. She thought they were beyond the wooing part. Things shouldn't be slowing down. They should be speeding up.

She bites his bottom lip roughly, trying to bring him back to her level. She reaches up to grasp his neck, pulling him forward, thrusting her tongue between his teeth. Her other hand slides between them, reaching down to brush her panties aside and guide his hardened shaft to her entrance. She needs him now.

His whole body suddenly freezes. She can't bear stopping right now. Not when they are so close. He's changed his mind.

"Wait. I mean, Paige are you sure?" He stammers. She stares up at him like he's crazy. Is she sure? He's not exactly forcing himself on her here. "Are you ready, because I want-"

She would be touched by his show of concern for her wellbeing, if it weren't so damn frustrating.

Instead of answering with words, she silently raises her hips to join them together. She closes her eyes, focusing on nothing but the feeling of him sinking into her, spreading her open. It's been a while, and God, she forgot how good that first thrust feels. She didn't even realize she was empty without him. Now that he's inside her, she feels somehow simultaneously satisfied and wanton.

It's been so long since she's been with a man. How did she live without this for the past few months? He's stretching her just to the point of pain, not quite reaching it.

When she finally is able to think about something other than the feeling of him inside her, she realizes Mike is not moving. His head is buried in the crook of her neck, breathing heavily, with an unnatural stillness. She needs him to move. Before she can voice this, he seems to hear her thoughts, pulling out slowly and then thrusting deeply into her.

Somehow the second thrust feels as good as the first, and it is quickly followed by a third. Then a fourth. Before she knows it, her hips are moving on their own accord, rising to meet his, trying to get him deeper inside of her. She feels desperate, completely desperate to have him closer. Every time he pulls away, it's exquisite torture, only to have him return deeper each time. She is clawing his back and hair. Their lips are pressed roughly together, not kissing, just crying into the other's mouths, breathing each other's air.

He pushes away from her, repositioning himself up on his knees. Somehow, even though there is more space between them, this position seems more intimate. When he's close, she can stare into space, letting her hands and mind wander. From here, she sees nothing but him above her, staring down at her with a look of intense concentration. Even when she closes her eyes she can feel the weight of his stare. There's nothing she can do to him from this angle, he's totally in control. He sets the pace now and it's slower, steadier and precise. God, it's just like Mike. Perfect torture.

She feels him press one hand to her lower stomach, providing a steady pressure, making her feel more full and feeding the fire. He uses his thumb to rub slow firm circles around her clit and she cries out, arching up to try to increase her contact. Oh God where did he learn to do that?

Without him near enough to hold, her hands search wildly for something to grab onto. She's used to being a far more active participant in sex, but he's so calculated that he's not leaving her with much to do. Usually it's her pleasuring her partner and this undivided focus on her is leaving her unsure and frantic. Her hands search for something to focus on, anything to think about other than the man ravishing her. She needs to find something to anchor herself or she'll become lost in him.

A particularly deep thrust elicits a pleasured yelp from her. Her hand flies to her mouth. She bites down and then sucks on a finger, wishing it were him she was tasting. She's going crazy. Her eyes flutter open and his face comes into focus. He's flushed and straining with exertion but entirely focused on her.

She reaches down removing the hand on her abdomen and replacing it with her own. She brings his fingers to her mouth and sucks on them desperately, savoring his salty skin, keeping her eyes trained seductively on his. She sees uncertainty in his eyes, but as her lips envelope around his digits his eyes squeeze shut and he lets out a groan.

His thrusts become more urgent. Their moans become louder. She suckles on his fingers desperately happy to have something to focus her mind on as the pleasure builds inside her. She chokes slightly when his fingers hit the back of her throat, and he immediately withdraws them.

She's so close. Suddenly, he stretches one of her legs straight up in the air and hooks her ankle over his shoulder. Angling forward he drives harder into her.

He's thrusting deeper and deeper inside her, and she can't help the words from falling from her lips.

"Mike! Yes. Oh god yes, fuck yes. Right there. Keep going. Harder. Harder, oh fuck. Yes, please! Oh my fucking god, yes, fuck. Right there. Mike. Oh my- MIKE! GOD YES! FUCK ME PLEASE!"

He moans loudly. Realizing this isn't enough for either of them anymore, he slides himself forward, pinning her leg between them. She's caged by his strong arms on either side of her head and loves the feeling. Her eyes unfocus on the roof of the tent, and her fingers clench in his hair and against his back.

"Paige, fuck I'm close. I've wanted you for so long. I can't believe this is happening. You feel so good, Paige. So good. Come for me please. I need you to come. Just tell me what to do. Paige, god. I'd do anything for you. You know I- Paige, you have to know."

She knows he's talking, but can't process the words. She can feel is the vibrations of his voice in her ear though, and it pushes her over the edge.

"Mike, oh god oh god oh my, ah, yes, keep going. Just like that- oh, I'm going to come." She comes hard, his name bursting from her lips again and again. "Mike, ah- MIKE! FUCK! FUCK ME MIKE! MIKE! OH GOD, FUCK! MIKE!"

"Paige, I need to pull out, I'm going to-" She feels him start to pull away from her. She needs him. God, she needs him now. He can't stop. Finish it.

"Don't you dare." She gasps, wrapping her legs tighter around him, locking him inside her.

Mike seems to abandon any thought of pulling out, and with new determination fucks her roughly. Paige takes it gladly, wanting him to come apart for her. He moans loudly, and penetrates her again and again, slamming deep into her at a frantic pace.

She's still riding the last waves of her orgasm, but she can't help but be mesmerized by the wild look on his face. She has never seen Mike lose control like this. She didn't know he could.

With one final thrust, he sheaths himself completely within her. She can feel him spasming deep inside her, filling her intimately. He gives three last shallow thrusts and she feels his cum seeping out.

He slumps on top of Paige, still inside her.

Slowly the roof of the tent comes back into focus.

Paige is breathing deeply, and her mind begins to clear with each gasp of oxygen.

He brushes the hair back from her sweaty forehead, and kisses her sloppily on her lips, face, neck, whatever he can reach. He seems so happy, like a puppy dog.

She suddenly feels sick.

Holy fuck, what did she just do?

She can't breathe. She can't move. She can't think. She can't breathe.

He rolls off to the side, collapsing in a satisfied heap. The second he's off of her, she's on her feet. She needs air. The tent is heavy and hot with the smell of sex and she can't breath. What did she just do?

"I'm going to check the perimeter." She mumbles hastily, grabbing her shirt and fleeing the tent, not able to look at him. The cool ocean air burns her lungs as she inhales deeply, emerging from the enclosed space.

**Holy Fuck.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's Note:** I will finish this story one day soon dammit. I think I'm dragging my feet because I'm not quite ready to say goodbye to this version of the characters, but now that I have angsty sad Mike/Paige in 'Safe' to write I think I need to finish this and let go of my emotionally stunted Paige and my puppy love Mike. Though I love them.

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**Skinny Double Dirty Chai**

**Chapter 15**

Paige stands on the beach, gulping down deep breaths of the midnight ocean air, staring blankly out at the horizon. She desperately tries to calm her racing heart and clear her head.

What did she just do? She's just wrecked everything. She feels like she may vomit. She is the worst person on this planet.

Mike comes up behind her and wraps his arms around her waist. He kisses her shoulder gently. She feels frozen. The tenderness and intimacy in his gesture hurts. She wants to crawl out of her own skin.

"I didn't picture you as such a screamer." Mike teases softly, laughing into her neck as he nuzzles her.

He obviously has no idea of how horribly Paige just screwed up. How can he be so naive? What does he think will happen now? That they will just run away together, and live happily ever after?

"I'm not, but at least the police are nowhere to be seen, right?" Paige shrugs, trying to act casual. Like nothings changed.

"Wait, you used me?!" She shuts her eyes tightly trying to block out the hurt and betrayal she hears in his voice. He releases her like she is on fire, and she almost falls backwards without him holding her.

"Well in all fairness, you used me pretty well too. I'm supposed to go horseback riding tomorrow through a pot farm." She jokes.

She has to do damage control. Keep things light, and happy. She pulls her shirt back on over her head and looks down to straighten her skirt. The skirt is fine, but she can't stop messing with it or she'll have to make eye contact. She can't look at him. The guilt is too much.

"So that was all an act?"

"Mmmm..." She makes a noncommittal murmur, "things did get a little carried away there, huh?"

"Wait, so that- so you were just faking it for the police? Did you even-" His voice drops to a low whisper, "Did you have an orgasm?"

She laughs a genuine laugh. It was such a Mike thing to say.

"Aw Levi, you sound so textbook sometimes." She could save this, she could bring it back.

"Paige" He grabs her arm, "Please."

"Mike," Paige cannot believe this is the thing he's focusing on. Did she really have to say it? Was it just his male ego that needs her to tell him how incredible he was in bed? He should know he's good.

"Yes." She sighs.

She doesn't want this to be a serious conversation. She hasn't had time to process what just happened. She needs to think about what this means, if anything, and she can't do it with him standing so close. The look on his face tells her he won't let this drop until he hears the actual words.

"Yes, I had an orgasm." She rolls her eyes at the use of the word.

"Look it's been a long night, let's just head home." She turns to walk down the beach towards Graceland, not looking back to see if he was following her. They just need some time to cool off, anything more they say right now will just make things worse.

"Paige." She stops as he says her name, but doesn't look back. "So that's it. That's all you have to say to me? It didn't mean anything? I was just part of your cover?"

Did he really think that little of her? That she would just drop her pants for anyone if she thought it would get her out of a parking ticket?

Of course it meant something to her but she didn't know what right now. It certainly didn't have to mean everything.

She was human. She made mistakes, and sleeping with him was definitely a mistake. Why did he have to keep pushing her? Why couldn't he just accept it for what it was? Why did she for one second think he could?

This would never be a problem if she'd slept with any of the other men in the house. Hell, sleeping with Charlie would cause less of an identity crisis than sleeping with Mike. What the fuck did he want from her?

"What do you want me to say, Mike? I didn't plan on the fucking house blowing up tonight, and I certainly didn't plan on fucking you."

She had fucked up. She knew she had fucked up. She hadn't planned on any of it. She had just wanted him. She had acted impulsively. She knew there was no one to blame but herself, but she was so angry at herself she was lashing out at him.

Who the fuck did he think he was? She hadn't asked for any of this. He just showed up here, followed her around like a lost puppy dog and kept giving her at damn look. She both hated and loved that look.

Seen through Mike's eyes she was perfect, and she loved him looking at her that way, even though it wasn't true. Time and time again, she would think she had it under control and then he would say something sweet, or give her a conspiratorial smirk and she'd fall again. He kept staring at her when he thought she didn't notice, and a look like that, how was she supposed to resist?

"And after your grand fucking entrance at the house, all determined to 'save me,' I didn't have a lot of options! I went with the first plan I thought of, and guess what? It worked."

"Well, it was a shit plan!" Mike yells back at her.

"Look it was just sex, Levi-" She once again tries to calm down the conversation. Bring things back into perspective.

"Stop calling me that! It's Mike."

"Everyone-" She starts to defend herself, but he cuts her off.

"I don't care about everyone. You. You don't get to call me that." The intensity in his voice unnerves her.

"Look it was just sex. Was it a good cover for the cops? Yes, but I wouldn't advise putting it in your case report." She has to get away from this argument. She's not having it with him. This only has to be a big deal if they make it a big deal.

"How stupid do you think I am?" They were both yelling at the top of their lungs at this point. His hands were balled into fists at his sides. He looked like he wanted to punch something. His forehead was all screwed up, and his face was turning red, and he looked powerful, dangerous and sexy as hell.

She wanted to drag him back into that tent and throw him to the ground and fuck him harder, because if he was this worked up afterwards they clearly hadn't worked out their issues enough.

Her desire to rip his clothes off pisses her off even more. She can't keep having this reaction to him. They lived in the same house and worked together for Christ's sake. Her job required her to keep her personal life in a very small box. The two couldn't bleed together like this, and this fight was exactly why.

"Don't go getting all sappy on me here, Mike. I'm a big girl. You don't have to date me. It doesn't have to mean something. I'm not Abby."

He will not turn her into something she's not. If he wanted to walk up and down the beach talking about their feelings all day long, he should just go back to his little girlfriend.

I'm not-" Mike was about to argue back with her when his entire face fell. "Oh, my god Abby. I completely forgot about Abby. I just cheated on Abby."

"Calm down. Jesus! It's not like you're married." Even after all this, she still felt jealous of his reaction to Abby.

"No, you don't understand. I'm not this guy. I don't cheat. I have to tell her, I can't keep this from her."

"Look Mike, it was no big deal. It was a one time thing. Part of the job. You don't have to tell her." He should go back to Abby. It would be for the best. Abby could give Mike what he needs from a relationship and Paige and him could pretend like this night had never happened.

"You really believe that? Now that you've fucked me you're done? Because a few days ago you were telling me to dump her."

"I was telling you not to get too attached, and that's still true. Falling in love leads to nothing but trouble, if not worse. Attachment compromises the mission and puts everyone at Graceland at risk. Look at Donny and Lauren."

"Look at me, Paige. You know me! Christ, you're one of the only people who does." He shakes his head and looks away. His voice is a low desperate whisper now, "You should know, I can't NOT get attached."

"Mike. Don't make this a big deal. Don't let this change things." She is starting to panic at the intensity in his voice.

"Look Paige, I am already attached. I have been attached since the second I saw you in that bar."

Since he first saw her in the bar. Of course Mike would be the type who believes in love at first sight. The problem was, that wasn't her at the bar. She'd been undercover. He didn't know what he was asking for, because he wasn't in love with her, he was in love with a fantasy. When he found out that wasn't her, he'd hate her.

"I think you are the most amazing and terrifying woman I have ever met. You are challenging and frustrating, but I want that." He clears his throat.

Don't say it. Don't say it.

"I want you, Paige."

Paige forces herself to stay strong. He doesn't know. She can't give in like she did in the tent and hurt him further.

He steps forward to her, putting his hands gently but firmly on her face, tilting it up to his. She has no choice but to look into his eyes, and she is terrified of what she sees there.

"And have no doubt, that I am most definitely compromised when it comes to you. And I was before we ever entered that tent."

She stares up into his eyes, she tries to think of anyway this could end without her hurting him. Any chance she could be with him without it causing her entire world to spin out of control. There's just no possible way. What he wants is a fairy tale with an imaginary girl she can't be, no matter how much she wants to at this moment. She lowers his hands from her face, taking them in her own and looking up at him with apologetic eyes.

"I'm not that girl, Mike. She's an illusion. I am my job, and this can't happen."

The look of defeat on his face as he let's out a shaky breath is crushing. He leans forward and presses his lips to her forehead, and she closes her own eyes, forcing herself to stay strong and not to cry.

"I have to go file a report. I'll see you back at the house." He chokes out, turning and walking hurriedly away. She wants to call after him. They can't leave it like this. She stays strong though, and let's him walk away from her.


	16. Chapter 16

Author's Notes: And now comes the end to my two part story. I truly enjoyed writing it and bonding with you all over these characters. Thank you so much for all the reviews, PMs and support. I'm sad to let it go, but happy to see that it got finished. Thanks a bunch!

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**Skinny Double Dirty Chai**  
Chapter 16

Paige throws herself in a disgruntled heap on her bed. She had walked back to Graceland alone, taking the long way to ensure her and Mike did not cross paths on the way back. The entire walk she had played the night over and over again in her head. She criticized every word she had said, thinking of better ways she could have handled the situation.

She kept asking herself the same questions over and over again. What on earth was she thinking, sleeping with Mike? Why was he so infuriating? How would she face him at breakfast the next morning? Should she transfer to another location? Could she plant drugs in his room to get him kicked out?

She covers her face with a pillow and lets out a muffled frustrated scream. She will never be able to sleep with this many thoughts racing through her head. The events of the night should have left her exhausted, but she's never felt more awake. It certainly doesn't help that she still has the fresh memory of him inside of her.

She needs to wash him off her or else she will never get to sleep. Throwing the pillow to the side, she starts to head to the shower, but the pillow knocks her nightstand and she lunges to catch the cup it knocks over.

She catches the cup halfway down to the floor, but the top comes off and liquid spills everywhere.

"Fucking perfect." She curses violently to herself at the mess. How the fuck did that happen? Paige never leaves dirty dishes and drinks in her room. She looks at the cup and sees the markings on the side. It's marked as a skim milk chai latte with two shots of espresso, and there in Mike's chicken scratch handwriting are the words "Let's Talk."

Paige sits down in the puddle of spilled tea and turns the cup over and over in her hand. It can't be from tonight, the glass is room temperature and the milk smells like it's spoiled. She wonders when he left this for her, why he didn't say anything. She rereads the words over and over again. He knew her drink order. No one ever remembered her she loved Skinny Double Dirty Chai's.

The puddle of liquid finally soaks through her skirt to the point she can feel it against her skin. She should clean this up. She stands up, staring at the cup in her hand. She looks at the waste basket near her desk, but instead sets the now empty cup back on her dresser instead. She should go down to the kitchen to get a towel.

Paige walks softly down the hall, but instead of heading to the kitchen, she finds herself gravitating towards Mike's bedroom. Her steps make no sound in the silent hallway. She only pauses for a second outside his door.

She could just turn around. He would never know. Sure he'd be hurt for a short while and things would be awkward, but he'd get over it. After a few months he would move on and it would be like nothing had ever happened. If she opened that door though, there would be no going back. Things would change.

No matter what scenario she played in her head, she knew this wouldn't end well.

She should get out now.

She cracks the door open slowly. She is just going to peek in, and make sure he got home safe. Then she will go back to bed.

It would hurt, but she can't be selfish here. She's seen too much to believe in happy endings.

If she lets him get too close he won't like what he sees. He was infatuated with her cover, the happy go lucky sexy agent. The same cover that allowed her to get close to anyone, and infiltrate the lowest levels of society. Every man's dream girl. A carefully crafted mirage.

If she let him in, he might be happy for now. Eventually he'd see how damaged and flawed she really was. He would resent her for not being able to live on the pedestal he'd built for her. They'd fight and he'd hate her.

She cracked the door open slowly. She sees him curled up on his side in his bed. His hair is messy, and his bare back is to her. He's trying to fake sleep but she's not buying it. He's too tense.

She can see his fingers flex and she knows he's judging the distance to his gun. He's so easy to read. Even if the sight of him about to shoot her is adorable.

She sighs. She's lost this fight.

If she's honest she lost it the second she saw the drink he left on her bedside table.

If she's really honest, she lost the fight months ago, somewhere between the first time she slapped his ass and that horrible double date.

Fuck it. She tried.

"At ease soldier." She whispers.

Paige crosses the room quickly, and crawls under his sheets. She presses herself to his bare back, and wraps herself around him. She instantly feels calmer, more relaxed.

She casually tosses one leg over his. One arm supports her head and the other wraps around his chest. She breathes deeply and is overwhelmed by the familiar scent of his bed. It smells like Mike. Like soap, sex and him. It makes her feel safe.

He is still lying tense in her arms. She knows he's expecting her to say something, but she's emotionally exhausted. She presses a soft kiss to the back of his neck, hoping it answers his unspoken questions. She feels him relax in her arms.

He takes her hand resting on his chest and entwines her fingers with his own. She smiles sleepily as he examines her fingers and tenderly presses her hand to his lips. She didn't realize until this moment how scared she was that he might kick her out.

She was expecting more of a fight from him. At the very least, she thought he would definitely want to talk to her about what happened earlier and dissect every detail. She was tired of the talk though. She just wants to sleep beside him. To live in the moment and not worry about the future.

She's just about to nod off when she hears his voice break the silence.

"So, what you said on the beach... About not-"

She knew it wouldn't be that easy. She should apologize, she knows he must be confused, but she's tired.

"It's Graceland. Everybody lies." She cuts him off softly. She buries her head between his shoulder blades, and hopes this part is over.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have-" He's starting to apologize but Paige knows he has nothing to apologize for. He's going to get himself worked up again. He's going to overthink it. He's going to be Mike.

"Go to sleep, Mike." She murmurs sleepily.

"So, you don't think this is a bad idea?"

She can hear the hope in his voice. The hope she doesn't dare let herself feel. Experience tells her this is going to end poorly. There were too many secrets and lies at Graceland. Too many ways you had to sacrifice your soul for the common good. You couldn't have a relationship without hurting someone, because you couldn't do your job without hurting yourself.

She should lie, and tell him everything will be fine, but there will be so many lies in their future that she can't bring herself to add another to the pile. So she answers truthfully.

"Oh, it's a terrible idea," she mumbles sleepily into his shoulder, "Worst idea ever, but we'll figure it out later..." She yawns against him. She's going to fall asleep in Mike's bed. The thought makes her smile.

Another thought occurs to her suddenly. When he wakes up in the morning and she's gone, he will be hurt. It's not that she wants to leave, but the team can't find her here. Whatever this is between them will have to become another secret. Another lie.

"Don't be offended if I slip out before you wake up." She whispers. There are unspoken words in her plea. She wants to say more, beg him not to hate her when this fails, but she can't. Asking his forgiveness for tomorrow's empty bed is all she can muster.

He laughs lightly, his laugh turning into a yawn as well.

"As if you could ever wake up befo..." He mutters sleepily, the words slurring and trailing off. Paige waits to hear the rest, but all she hears is his rhythmic breathing.

She relaxes completely with his chest rising and falling lightly under her hand. There will be no more fights tonight. She rests her head back down and nuzzles her face into his back, breathing deep.

She appreciates that he did not try at any point to turn over and embrace her. Paige likes being the big spoon. It makes her feel like she's free to leave whenever she wants. But right now she doesn't want to go anywhere. Right now she is exactly where she wants to be.

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The end. Thank you lovelies.


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